Things That Torque My Shorts
There are lots of things that go on in the world that I find amusing, and it's hard to get me really mad about something. However, some things "cross the line" for me from humorous absurdity to anti-social idiocy that has the potential to be dangerous to the American society I know and love. With fewer links than I normally include in such rants, here's a list of things that have been pissing me off lately:
1) People who refuse to accept someone's word about what their religious beliefs are. A person's religious beliefs are one of the most personal things they have, and it's not up to someone else to decide if their concept of God is "pure" enough to be able to claim membership in a given broad religious classification.
2) People who try to take citizenship away from American citizens. I'm OK with people who want to change the Constitution to affect people not yet born, even if I wouldn't support their proposed change; that's part of the traditional political process. It's the people who want to retroactively change the rules to take away citizenship from those who already have it that piss me off.
3) "Africa" by Toto. I know it's an old song, but I'm still pissed off that a song with insipid lyrics like "I know that I must do what's right, as sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti" could ever be popular.
What's pissing you off nowadays?
posted by Bubblehead at 12:24 PM
50 Comments:
The fact that religious freedom in the USA is questioned by the same louts that support a 'return' to the constitution. Free to worship, as long as it's my way!
9/03/2010 1:32 PM
Going to a blog to read about submarines and ending up with a stupid song stuck in my brain. And it turns out that the word is "Olympus." I thought it was "an empress," which is a little better.
9/03/2010 2:22 PM
Not being able to celebrate or praise people's efforts, sucesses or gifts because we would be alienating others who couldn't, can't or don't achieve.
- Pass out the ribbons so everyone gets something.
-No celebrating a home run in Little League.
-Make sure that slug gets qualified or it's the division's fault.
Where did achievment and accountability go?
9/03/2010 2:25 PM
I've never understood the assault on everybody getting a trophy. We certainly got them in the Reagan 80s. It's not like we thought we'd won.
9/03/2010 2:44 PM
People who think God only supports the American Military. Wouldn't God love all submariners no matter what political or state side they are on? So if an Akula and 688 were dueling in the middle of the ocean, which one would God want to win? If he love's American submariners better, why did he "allow" Thresher and Scorpion to go down? Did he hate them? Des he hate Russians?
Religion is so hokey!
9/03/2010 3:02 PM
People who make lists about what pisses them off.
9/03/2010 3:03 PM
@ flynn -- For the longest time, I thought it was "a lepress", which is even worse.
9/03/2010 3:37 PM
Picketing and heckling a military funeral.
In Topeka KS, there is the Westboro Baptist Church which is a cult or sect which hides under the guise of a religious organization. Yet their not affiliated with any other known Baptist associations. The cult or "church" members actively fly in to other states and assume a picket line during military funerals.
Why? Why would you add on a whole other wave of pain upon the family who's grieving over their loved one lost in battle? These misguided assholes are using their 1st amendment rights to attempt to control and hurt other innocent people. That to me, is just unbelievably disrespectful and completely fucked up. The fallen service personnel which this church targets, were and are the ones fighting and dieing for these asshole's rights to misuse the 1st amendment. Yet this umm so called church decides to show up to trample on and squat piss upon our fallen service member's graves. Why is that allowed? Why is it okay to intentionally hurt someone else in this fashion who has done nothing to the offending party? So yeah, that's what pisses off to no end.
A very distant 2nd...How many times have you wanted to tell a member of the ORSE team to please shut the hell up when they question you about a potential deficiency...Yet the first thing they say is "Well, that's not how we did it on my boat." That's one of those times you really have to think before you utter your next syllable in response.
9/03/2010 3:53 PM
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9/03/2010 4:05 PM
I forgot to say that I have nothing against other people's religious views and practices. You can be a devout Roman Catholic or an Hassidic Jew or a Satan worshiper who might need to run back to the galley to make sure their goats blood isn't boiling over. How you choose to worship the Almighty is your personal business entirely. I just DO NOT like seeing religion being used to actively hurt someone else altogether who's completely innocent.
9/03/2010 4:09 PM
@MT1,
I thought actively hurting innocent groups was the entire purpose of organized religions? It sure seems to be supported throughout history.
9/03/2010 4:45 PM
Joining the military and then filing to become a conscientious objector once you find out you actually have to go fight for your country.
9/03/2010 8:25 PM
Africa? Dude!
9/03/2010 9:02 PM
Anonymous Mentaljim said...
"@MT1, I thought actively hurting innocent groups was the entire purpose of organized religions? It sure seems to be supported throughout history.
9/03/2010 4:45 PM"
Yeah Pard, you've got a solid point here. I won't even attempt to argue that. But the thing is really, it just kills me that we have people who actually heckle a funeral. What the fuck for? I don't understand what those ridiculous jackasses intend to accomplish.
The one funeral I've been to regarding a fellow shipmate not too long ago was an HM who was killed in Tikrit during his first shore tour. I'm extremely thankful there were no protesters present at the service.
Do some religious organizations use their weight to control others?...sure they do. But what's the point in using said influence just to hurt and control others? In the long run it's ineffective.
9/03/2010 9:20 PM
I read an article this morning about our military banning the sale of the upcoming video game 'Medal of Honor'. In the game you have the option of fighting as a Taliban soldier killing American soldiers. Now I am firmly in the column of free speech and am normally pretty liberal in things like this. But if true, I applaud our military's decision to ban the sale of this game from our exchanges/PX's etc. Additionally, I'd like to see a complete ban of this game on United States soil. Here's the link:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15987273?source=most_viewed
9/04/2010 8:16 AM
How about being ordered to pull a shore power cable out of a pier bunker, even though the breaker wouldn't open (25D rules!), just so we wouldn't get behind schedule? It's one thing to know in an abstract way you could someday be ordered to give up your life, it's another thing altogether when it happens for real. And it's not like it was to save the boat, or anything; I think we all know it was so some zero has a better shot at making admiral.
On the other hand, Africa was Toto's best song, after Stranger in Town. The videos for both were way ahead of their time, too.
9/04/2010 8:42 AM
I hated being experimented on when I was on the '72. We were given no choice: take the experimental anthrax vaccine, with its nasty side effects, or go to jail. Lots of people ended up with permanent damage, and the kicker was that it didn't even protect against the type of anthrax we might face in combat.
It's not -just- a job.
9/04/2010 9:10 AM
The Ayn Rand conservative Republican “I hate the government” crowd...why does the republican and libertarians hate the government so? That is what really pisses me off.
All the poor and vulnerable people who don’t have a job or adequate income today...it pisses me off that a enormous percentage of our population doesn’t have a chance anymore.
9/04/2010 9:57 AM
The Westboro Baptist Church (I should put Baptist in scare quotes for that bunch) likes to picket military funerals because they think that the Iraq war is punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuals. Follow that logic if you can.
Anyhow, there are not a lot of things I genuinely *hate*; maybe I don't have enough life experience to really work up a good hate-on for something--its sad really. There are a few groups I do dislike with a solar intensity though.
The first would be active pedophiles, particularly those that closet themselves within religious organizations. A close second would be the religious organizations that cover for them in order to protect their own authority/privileges.
9/05/2010 1:45 AM
Tinge that piss me off right now:
BOOMER/TRIDENT STORIES -- Calm down Marko Ramius. Just because your job's important doesn't mean it was hard. There's a reason why women are coming to your boats first.
BAD ADVICE I GOT WHEN I WAS YOUNGER -- Kids, go to a school where you have fun, and don't be an engineer. If you get good grades (eg. Choose a cake major) few will care where it came from.
SLOW DRIVERS -- Just because you got nothing but time doesn't mean I do.
OLD MEN AND GRATUITOUS NUDITY IN THE LOCKER ROOM-- hey old man, put a towel on. If I wanted to see a grandfather clock, I would go to England.
WOMEN -- "Cant live with 'em, pass the beer nuts".
9/05/2010 7:15 AM
Oh and one more:
THE STUPID AUTOCORRECT ON MY IPHONE -- how many times have I used the word "tinge" in a sentence? Who am I, Martha Stewart? And when I talk about my job, stop correcting it to "Job". Did Mormons write the auto-correct?
9/05/2010 7:19 AM
Notice that no one has said that they hate Democrats...yet "someone" has said that they hate Republicans, and several have alluded to that sentiment.
Which begs the question: which party do you think will prevail in November?
Interesting, isn't it?
9/05/2010 10:02 AM
Oh yes... thanks for the reminder cupojoe. I do have one other issue. With no intend to open the wound: Women In Submarines.
ETCS
9/05/2010 2:38 PM
Heh, I love that song -- who gives a crap about the lyrics? Just move to the beat and dance a few bars!
9/05/2010 3:01 PM
I’ll tell you how it is going to go down.
You republicans are so going to get your heart broken. They are setting you up for a bear trap. They are going to nuke the corpocracy with the Deepwater Horizon. The Laurel and Hardy “Who is on First Base” Macondo well and BP are going to be made a metaphor of the republicans and tea baggers. Can you imagine the election videos they are going to flood us with over the gulf? They are still trying to figure who was in charge and who was the captain of the Deepwater Horizon ship...everyone in the proceedings are pointing fingers at each other. Nobody was in charge or everyone was in charge, nothing was documented...that is what the democrats are going to paint the republican as doing to do to us if you elect them.
It is going to be the best political comeback story of 50 years....and I am just so sorry many republican hearts are going to get broken.
The republicans and the tea baggers are going to get so crushed, in historic proportions ahead in Sept, and dead by mid Nov 2010...the outcome of this another two years Obama will win in landslide.
9/05/2010 5:24 PM
Abbott and Costello did "who's on first" not laurel and hardy
9/05/2010 6:16 PM
Not sure why we're talking religion on a submarine blog. Everyone knows God can't see below 400 ft - well that's what I heard.
9/05/2010 6:45 PM
A retired Master Chief correcting another retired Master Chief because he said "sub mariner" vice "submarine er".
9/05/2010 6:56 PM
1. People who whine about video games. Who cares if a video game player wants to be the "bad guy"? I can be the Russian on my submarine game and kill the American Imperialists, should we ban that too?
2. People who still complain about women on submarines...get over it already.
9/05/2010 7:44 PM
The new plan to undo the QM/ET rating merger. Sure it was stupid to do it in the first place, everyone knew ET's were not smart enough to be QM's. But now we are going to have to pick ET's to be QM's....what a tragedy.
9/05/2010 7:49 PM
People using words or phrases in the exact opposite way that they should be used. How many times have you heard someone throw in "no pun intended" when it's obvious that they were making an intentional pun? Yes, the pun WAS freakin' intended! You shouldn't have to point out a pun at all, but if you're going to then say "pun intended."
The one that really pisses me off, though, is the misuse of the word "literally." "Irregardless" is dumb, and "ironic" is misused constantly, but neither drive me nuts the way that "literally" does. It means the exact opposite of what you're using it for, jackass! And it's not just the uneducated; I've heard news reporters, politicians, school teachers -- people who should have a solid grasp on vocabulary -- misuse the word all the time.
Also, the song "Africa" -- and by extension, Toto -- sucks.
9/05/2010 8:31 PM
People who try to tell other people how they're supposed to feel about any topic whatsoever...like their perceptions are 'right' and others' are 'wrong.'
Especially when it come to something that is as obviously politically driven (not practically) like women on submarines, this is just idiotic.
9/05/2010 8:37 PM
@Anonymous... 9/05/2010 7:44 PM
I find it amusing that I am the only thing that torques you off. Do I scare you that much?
At least I publically announce and support those things I truly believe in.
John
9/06/2010 3:10 AM
I prefer sub-mariner over submarine-er. Bottom line: do your time on one and you've earned the right to pronounce "janitor" however you'd like.
9/06/2010 8:04 AM
@Mike Mulligan 9/05/2010 5:24 PM
Holy sh!t you truly are one of the most pompous asses I've ever had the misfortune of encountering on the internet. Apparently you haven't paid attention to the surveys being reported on by virtually every news media outlet showing the steady DECLINE of Obama's approval rating,as well as the publics overall dissolution with the current party in power.
Just read your profile as well, you may want to pull that whistle out of your ass and start blowing on it a little more,it seems like your brain may be suffering from low oxygen flow.
9/06/2010 2:39 PM
ETCS said:
"I find it amusing that I am the only thing that torques you off. Do I scare you that much?"
Actually neither one of those things that I mentioned bothers me, one way or the other. Life is too great and too short to be bothered by small things like that.
As far as scaring people...yea right. Anyway keep up your postings, I love reading them. Don't really agree with the "sky is falling" message but they are good reading. Thanks.
9/06/2010 7:02 PM
Obama is about ready to announce a 25% cut in the defense budget including all new submarine programs and a reduction in submarine forces....now that torques me off!
9/06/2010 7:06 PM
Obama is really going to do that? He should allocate some funds and buy the property which that church in kansas uses to ridicule our dead once their brought home. Buy the property and kick the congregation off the promised land.
9/06/2010 11:41 PM
"Olympus?" I would have bet almost anything it was "a lepress," which makes so much more sense in a song called, "Africa." Thanks for destroying one more remnant of my innocent youth, Joel!
9/07/2010 5:33 AM
People who can't figure out the proper usage of their, there, and they're.
9/07/2010 7:07 AM
I like to piss people off. I drive slow because getting flipped off makes me happy.
Rackburn
9/07/2010 7:11 AM
Jackasses who push policies and directives primarily because they are politically correct:
Repeal of DADT
Women on boats
Tacking on dolphins
Drinking dolphins
Bluenose/Shellback fun and games
Banning smoking on boats (even though I don't smoke and hate the smell)
I could also do without most of the policies the current socialist congressional leadership and their socialist Executive counterpart have (or want) to adopt.
Finally, I could do without Mikey Mulligan and his idiotic belief that the socialists will make the world good, when all they really want to do is to stay in power through legalized buying of votes through entitlement programs.
9/07/2010 11:05 AM
WHat pisses me off? Simple
Mulligan
Son of Mulligan
and it pisses me off that John does not come on here anymore.
Sinc
Mike and Gary
oh and it pisses me off when people miss pronounce hooah or hooyah.
9/07/2010 3:11 PM
I hated being experimented on when I was on the '72. We were given no choice: take the experimental anthrax vaccine, with its nasty side effects, or go to jail. Lots of people ended up with permanent damage, and the kicker was that it didn't even protect against the type of anthrax we might face in combat.
If true, you are one dumb SOB. Ever heard of saying, "NOT A FUCKING CHANCE?"
9/07/2010 7:35 PM
Folks who want to push their rights to the point that they conflict with my right to NOT be impacted by their actions.
For example: Your right to listen to loud music extends only as far as my right to peace and quiet. Conversely, my right to peace and quite extends only as far as your right to listen to loud music.
Those who aren't able to come to some sort of middle ground really "
torque my shorts".
9/07/2010 7:52 PM
This comment has been removed by the author.
9/08/2010 1:20 AM
I like it when someone's intelligent enough to come up with something different in a song. As such, I find Toto's "Africa" to be a very unique song. It has that mysterious feeling. I can't imagine being PO'd by Toto. I can think of a whole lotta songs of that time which are worse. Actually my favorite Toto song, from the same album, is "Rosanna". Terrific musical arrangement on that one.
9/08/2010 1:24 AM
Just the facts, Comrade Mulligan:
Voter turnouts in Democrat
primaries are at their lowest
numbers in 80 (EIGHTY) YEARS, according to American University in Washington, D.C.
Reality can be a real bitch, Mulligan...but it is what it is.
9/09/2010 2:14 PM
What Torques my shorts....
People (cupojoe) who assume trident sailor's jobs are easier.
If you haven't been on both platforms, don't comment. (Maybe you have... I don't know)
I have been on both and found one to not be harder than the other. Just different in what is hard about them. Each platform has the good side and the bad side.
Neither was harder or easier.
9/09/2010 5:22 PM
I love this blog...
and thank you, TENNVOL... me, too.
First, I hate that I can no longer get the 7.3L diesel in a Ford F250.
Second, NMCI and NIPRNET. Requires monumental exertions of self-control to inhibit my putting the security mandated, office sledge-hammer through the damned box.
Third, (and this seems to happen daily here in Norfolk) the fool who commutes to work in a car that, for any number of reasons, should not be on the road which promptly dies on the off-ramp from I-564 to Terminal Blvd.
Fourth, the new NWU. Sailors in designer cammies -- Good grief!
Fifth, "Crimson Tide".
Sixth, baseball announcers. Can I just watch the game in peace without their inane babble?
WCC
9/11/2010 9:23 PM
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