tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56717767754067366022024-02-20T08:26:39.824-05:00Secular WomanRamblings of a Godless LiberalHeidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-72985432445536144002016-05-07T19:56:00.000-04:002016-05-07T19:56:09.042-04:00"Need Prayers"Another thing I've been thinking about lately, is this. What do other non-theists say or do when someone posts or asks or prayers? Do you ignore it? Do you say "thinking of you" or something similar? It kind of makes me uncomfortable when people ask for prayers -- especially when they don't tell you why them want/need them. Like do they think I'm a jerk if I don't offer any? Am I supposed to acknowledge the request at all? <br /><br />I'm in a few Facebook groups, and from time to time, somebody will just post "need prayers" and nothing else. There is no handbook to tell me how to respond to that. I don't have any prayers to give them, so usually I just ignore it. But then if not enough people respond, does that make them feel like nobody cares? What do they want from me??!! <br />
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Now, I'm pretty open about my atheism, so none of my personal friends ask me for prayers. Although some people I know do broadcast a general prayer request. Which I generally ignore, also. But the people I know tend more often to be the new age type who ask for "prayers, healing thoughts, or white light." Which, I can think thoughts, so that's OK. It's not actually going to do anything, either, but I feel like I can honestly participate in thinking about them. If it was within my financial ability, I'd actually do something for them, too. <br /><br />I also don't always know how to respond people who say that they'll pray for me. Usually it's meant in a kind spirit, and I'd just thank them. And then there are those people who say it passive-aggressively, and I tell them that their prayers won't work, because I have magic shields that keep out spells, witchcraft, voodoo, prayers and other occult rituals. But every now and then you just can't tell. I end up not responding in those cases. Probably for the best, I guess.<br /><br />I think the worst would be having someone ask me to pray with them. I really can't do that. Although I suppose in the horrible situation where they wanted me to lead a prayer, I could (panic disorder permitting) thank the farmers and the grocers who made the food available or something. Or thank the doctors and nurses, aides and orderlies who take care of the sick people.<br /><br />Seems like it would be easier to just thank those people, if you really wanted to, but that would probably weird them out. Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-79893162567345914462016-05-07T19:30:00.002-04:002016-05-07T19:30:40.536-04:00Thoughts about Needing HelpSo I haven't updated this in years.Usually I only posted when I was annoyed with something, anyway. But I was just thinking about some stuff, and figured this was the best place to work out my thoughts about it. Mostly it's stuff to do with being a non-believer in an overly religious world.<br />
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The thing I was just thinking about was how, if I were a different sort of person, I would just pretend to be religious. You get all the breaks that way. You get to be in The Club. You don't get socially shunned. The Church helps you out when you need money. And I guess that's where I am with that thought. <br /><br />A church-going woman I sort of know through acquaintances has some fairly severe mental health issues. We'll call her Patty. So Patty has undiagnosed something or other, probably at the very least bipolar and some psychosis (no judgment here, just making an observation from what I know of her). She really needs treatment, but won't get it. Not sure why. Anyway, that's not the important thing. Until recently, Patty has been holding down a full time job with varying degrees of success. She's not been fired, so that's pretty successful. Her husband, from what I hear, lost his job years ago, and since then mostly sits on the couch and drinks. Her kids are mostly grown. I think one is still in college. She takes a lot of time off. Like whenever anybody else gets time off for any reason, she suddenly decides that she also needs time off. She's not working a high paying job. It's not minimum wage, but it's definitely paycheck-to-paycheck working class if you're the only one working. Anyway, she talks about how, if she doesn't have enough to make the mortgage, the church pays it for her. Which explains how they haven't been thrown out on the street. <br /><br />Now that's nice of them. I don't want to see anybody thrown out on the street. But I see stuff like that, and a part of me wonders if I should have been playing the religion game. Because I also have mental health issues. I also have not gotten financial help from my kids' father since... damn, the 90s? And my panic disorder is so bad that I can't even work. Never mind my other health issues that I'm unsure if I've ever had properly diagnosed. But since I don't believe in gods, I don't have a religious community to help me out. And since I'm too honest to pretend to believe in gods... well, there you go. I can't do it. I can't believe, and I can't pretend I believe. And when I say I can't believe, it's like if somebody commanded a religious person to believe in the Easter Bunny. Or trolls under bridges. I could say that I did, but it would be a lie. And AFAICT, there are no secular programs to help with a mortgage, or taxes, or water bills. Which just keep piling up on me. There is no property tax relief from my city (I've asked) or my state. There are no programs to assist with water/sewer/trash bills, which are high in my city. And those bills are higher than my actual mortgage. Which, there are also no programs to assist with paying. There are supposedly programs that will get me into a rental, but I've been on the section 8 list since 2010 or so, and still haven't heard from them. So whatever. <br /><br />Another part of me feels like there is something I'm missing, and some way to make money that I ought to be able to find. But I'm not finding it. Like rich people just make money out of money they already have, and thin air. But I can't do that. Really, I'd just like to be able to repair my house and pay my bills. I could make a whole blog post bout the house repairs I need to make. Ugh. So many. Anyway, that was one of my two big thoughts lately. I'll put the next one in another post.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-29558911874653739682012-07-24T04:44:00.000-04:002016-05-07T19:56:33.923-04:00It's a miracle"All these people died, and I got shot, but I didn't die! It's a miracle, praise Jebus!" Oh, FFS. Seriously? You're happy with a god saying "hey, honey, you can live, because I like you. Fuck that little 6-year-old kid, and those other people, though." Because I'm not really impressed with that. I would have let everyone live. I think I should run for supreme deity. Here's my 7-day plan.<br />
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Day 1: Feed the World (Also make sure everyone has clean water.)<br />
Day 2: End Religious Wars by saying "hey, I'm the Supreme Deity, now quit fighting." World Peace!<br />
Day 3: Cure diseases, heal amputees/injured humans & other animals, invent safe cold fusion<br />
Day 4: Repair planet, re-balance ecosystems, clean up space debris<br />
Day 5: Terraform Mars, invent transporters/interplanetary travel (incorporate any existing Martian life)<br />
Day 6: Ensure self-sustaining mundane tasks, make sure everyone can have a meaningful, fulfilling job that helps the world. Abolish money.<br />
Day 7: Party! The best way to spend a day in my honor is by being nice to each other and having BBQs.<br />
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I think that looks like a pretty good week.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-44750303557956748752012-03-02T06:05:00.000-05:002012-03-02T06:05:12.087-05:00Every waking second?What is up with people who insert gods into every single subject? I was just reading an article on HuffPo about a girl who died from huffing off a helium tank (yeah, that was bright), and some woman responded that if only we all lived as god intended, the article would not have been written. WTF? Along with what basically amounted to "if it had been my child, oh well, we don't live forever." WTGDPF?!<br />
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But anyway, are these people so weak/crazy/whatever that they can't go five seconds without being completely immersed in god-bother? These are the same people who boycott Halloween, and want to call it Jesus-ween. Which is seriously messed up, BTW. Guess what? Not every holiday is all about you. These are the people who get pissed off that they have to take down their "Our Heavenly Father" prayers that hang in public schools. Even though the very same people would fly into a foaming-at-the-mouth rage if somebody hung up a prayer to Allah, or Wicca, or Vishnu. Fuck these people. Fuck everything about them.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-74260865177571440122012-01-23T00:26:00.000-05:002012-01-23T00:26:41.156-05:00People really believe this stuff?I get that people are brought up to believe that gods are unquestionable lest you damn your eternal soul. So I can see how people would be afraid to question those beliefs. But ghosts? Seriously? And not even in a "well that was weird and I'm creeped out" kind of way. Some of the people commenting on <a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_18828_the-creepy-scientific-explanation-behind-ghost-sightings.html">this Cracked article</a> are all "ZOMG, my Aunt Zelda saw a ghost woman who answered her questions!" The fuck she did.<br />
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It's one thing to believe this stuff when you're a kid. It's another to be in full-on adulthood and think that incorporeal dead people are flying around talking to you. Or anybody else. I can't even get my head around this. Do they think Sixth Sense was a true story? FFS people.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-91184327887744648752012-01-20T16:37:00.000-05:002012-01-20T16:37:48.527-05:00Nerd Crush AlertI am crushing on <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/">Ricky Gervais</a> right now. I've kind of had him on my nerd crush list since before he lost weight and was suddenly hot. But after reading the linked article and its followup, he's square in the nerd crush realm. He gets it. And he can explain it. And it's funny. That's made out of win.<br />
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I don't date, but if I did, I can't imagine being with a guy who was a believer. What would you say when they talk about their magical thoughts? I can hold my tongue or just agree to disagree with a friend, but I could never get serious with or live with someone who thinks gods are real. The notion is so absurd to me that I just can't get my head around it. And that's OK with believers who are just friends, acquaintances, relatives or whatever. You can believe that the moon is made of green cheese, that aliens walk among us and they want to mutilate cattle and experiment on hillbillies, or that you have a personal relationship with an invisible man in the sky. Just don't expect me to join in.<br />
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But when you are in a relationship, that's not really possible. No, I'm not going to church with you this or any other week, including Christmas. No, I really don't want to hang out at your church functions. No, I don't want to be The Atheist Girlfriend in the family. No, I didn't like <i>Signs</i>. Yes, I did like <i>Contact</i>.<br />
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I guess those two movies spell it out plainly. I had a religious friend who really did not like <i>Contact</i>. I think what bugged him the most about the movie was that he didn't believe Jodie Foster's character would be turned down because she was an atheist. And he didn't like the way they portrayed Rob Lowe's character. I totally believed it, and everything Rob Lowe's character said was something I've heard or seen Christians say. OTOH, I didn't like <i>Signs</i> at all. I barely managed to sit through it. But we were at the drive-in with a bunch of my daughter's friends for her birthday. They weren't really watching it; they got out of the car and sat on the ground in the drizzling rain (with no sound). But they enjoyed being out somewhere, so we stayed. The whole thing was completely implausible to me. All those things were related? Seriously? The aliens were defeated by <spoiler> <span style="color: white;">WATER</span>? WTF were they planning to do if <spoiler> <span style="background-color: white; color: white;">it rained</span>? <span style="background-color: black;"></span>I'm guessing an awful lot of religious people went "aw, God took care of those people." No, bad writing and a horrible premise took care of those people.</spoiler></spoiler><br />
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Actually, now I wish I had seen that movie with someone like Ricky Gervais. That would have made it infinitely more entertaining. Too bad atheist conventions cost money, require interaction, and are apparently not girl-friendly (elevatorgate much?). I don't know where else to meet sane people.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-37066333479714859662011-11-29T19:52:00.000-05:002011-11-29T19:52:56.510-05:00Happy HolidaysSo it's that time of year again. The time when people pretend there is a war on Christmas. Now I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas. I tend to see winter shopping season as a reminder that I'm poor, fat, cold, and hate crowds. Religion doesn't even come into my equation. What other people do at this time of year is their deal, not mine.<br />
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And yet I've already seen multiple posts by more than one of my Facebook "friends," saying that it's "their" holiday, and anyone who doesn't like it should "go home." I posted this as my status last night in response:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">Before you copy/paste somebody's status complaining about how you are getting your rights trampled on if you don't get to dictate the cashier's greeting at Target, please consider how that sounds to everybody who isn't you. Not everyone celebrates the same holidays, and asking stores to force, for example, Jewish cashiers to wish you Merry Christmas is more than a little unreasonable.<br />
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And then ask yourself how it is in keeping with the spirit of whatever winter holiday you celebrate to tell me that if I don't celebrate the same thing, in the same way, and using that same words that you do, then I need to "go home"? <br />
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What does that even mean, "go home"? Like to where I was born? You want me to go to California?? Or do you mean to where my ethnicity originates? Because I'm an adopted person, and I don't know where that is. So I guess Africa, like everybody else. Are you coming with me, then, since you're from Africa, too? Africa's going to get crowded. <br />
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Plus if we all go back to Africa, shouldn't we be celebrating whatever it was we celebrated when we were all Africans? What did we do back then, make antelope paintings on cave walls or something like that? This seems overly complicated somehow. Maybe we should just forget it and tell everyone that we hope they enjoy their holidays, and let them worry about how they want to celebrate them.</span></span></h6></blockquote>What I would be interested in learning is whether or not these same horribly oppressed people would be OK with a Jewish cashier wishing them Happy Hanukkah. Is that OK? How about a pagan cashier wishing them a Blessed Yule or a Happy Solstice? Can I say Joyous Saturnalia just to be contrary? Because Saturnalia was apparently way more awesome than Christmas. What if this hypothetical cashier is a Puritan (are there still Puritans?) or a Jehovah's Witness, and doesn't celebrate Christmas? Can s/he say Have a Nice Day? Or is it that everyone needs to just celebrate the modern religio-retail version of Christmas with its Coca-Cola Claus and STFU about their own beliefs and/or traditions? Because it feels a lot like that last one.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-62350471123309646362011-08-17T01:31:00.002-04:002011-08-17T01:33:22.065-04:00What is the point of government?I had another conversation with my conservative friend today. He was saying that "class warfare" isn't the answer to our economic problems. Which is apparently his opinion on asking the people with all the money to quit hogging all the money. I don't mind if people have more money than I do. I don't mind if people have a whole ton of money and I don't. But I do mind that 1% of the people have ALL the money. So I have been thinking today, if the government isn't here to provide the services that We The People need, then what is that point of it? So I Googled. And I got this answer from Yahoo Answers (which wasn't even chosen as the best answer, but I think it should have been).<br />
<blockquote><br />
For the United States, the Constitution gives certain goals for the government in the preamble: <br />
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To form a more perfect union - Make it so the people of different states can conduct business, make contracts, have compatible laws. <br />
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Establish Justice - Criminals get punished. No running between states to avoid prosecution. <br />
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insure Domestic Tranquility - Enact such laws that allow people to live peacefully with each other. Provide institutions that enforce laws (Police, Courts, etc) <br />
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Provide for a Common Defense - Establish diplomatic capabilities for the whole of the union, establishment of a military. <br />
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Promote the General Welfare - See to the needs of the people. This includes making health care available to enabling charitable causes.<br />
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secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity - The government is intended to provide freedom. In essence, this is a 'do no evil' kind of statement. (Posterity - Those who come after us... eg. Children, Grandchildren, etc)</blockquote><br />
They're right. That is the point of (the US) government. I don't see "provide tax breaks to the wealthy" or "corporations play for free" in there anywhere. Hell, I don't even see "protect unregulated capitalism." Unregulated capitalism is evil, greedy, and wrong. But I suppose when you support a fascist theocracy, evil, greedy and wrong are small potatoes.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-17065555359110576122011-08-14T15:16:00.001-04:002011-08-17T01:32:21.991-04:00Damn, I'm on a roll.I've been thinking a lot lately about Republican and Libertarian political stances. Most of these people, AFAICT, call themselves Christians. OK. But what I'm wondering is, if they're Christians, then why do their beliefs sound more like LaVeyan Satanism than like the things Jesus supposedly said?<br />
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Example: Christianity teaches that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. I think none of them read that page. Another thing they don't appear to have read is when Jesus tell his people that they need to give all their stuff to the poor if they want to follow him. <br />
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OTOH, "LaVey felt that intelligent and strong people spent too much time caring for psychic vampires — weak individuals who always demanded attention and care, yet would never give any back. He taught that Satanists should strive to remove themselves as much as possible from such people in order to live in accordance to their instincts and individual wills." (This is from wikipedia.) This sounds a lot more like dog eat dog Republicans to me. Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-43591176494106031452011-08-14T03:20:00.002-04:002011-08-17T01:35:20.244-04:00Going for a RecordOK, it's not technically the same day, but I'm still within 24 hours.<br />
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I've been thinking today about how, when you tell Christians that there's no historical evidence for Jesus, they say things like "well how do we know" x person/place/thing from history is real? My favorite one was when someone asked how we know the Mayflower was a real boat. LOL. You're asking a girl from Massachusetts, honey.<br />
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The Mayflower is <i>still</i> a real boat. It's still anchored in Plymouth, and I've been aboard it. That's how I know. Also, my father is a direct descendant of Gov. William Bradford. I'm pretty sure my father is real, and he bears an unmistakable family resemblance to some of the pictures in histories of the Bradford family.<br />
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So yeah. Some things you can actually prove with evidence and stuff. Imagine that!Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-72953526052838072942011-08-13T20:07:00.000-04:002011-08-13T20:07:01.664-04:00Two in One Day!I had a conversation on Facebook with an old friend the other day. He had posted some cutesy Dr. Seuss poem about how much he doesn't like President Obama and his progressive policies. I responded that apparently the rest of the country does, since the GOP favorability rating is at an all-time low. He went on to tell me how he's not actually a Republican, because he votes "independent." Well I'm not actually a Democrat then, because I'm not enrolled in the Democratic party. I vote "unenrolled." But I am against pretty much everything the Republican party stands for.<br />
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Anyway, I was on FB today, and I saw on this sidebar that he had "liked" Michele Bachmann. That turned my stomach. How can anyone support her? Especially someone I consider a friend. I am still very upset about it. She LIES and makes up crap about the Constitution. She is ALWAYS wrong. She is dumber than Sarah Palin, and that's saying a lot. She wants a Constitutional BAN on same sex marriage. That's right. She actually wants to use the Constitution to TAKE AWAY PEOPLE'S RIGHTS! Why? Because her husband is gay, and hates himself for it because of people JUST LIKE HIM. She wants to get rid of the minimum wage, because then, she says, companies could hire more people. Seriously. Oh, yeah, so instead of hiring someone for $8/hr., they can hire 12 people for $8/hr.! Hooray! Guess what, bitch? Having a job that pays you $.66/hr. is a lot like being a slave. She's basically the personification of everything that's wrong with this country. Her values and beliefs are not reconcilable with mine, and I don't see how, as a country, we can solve this problem.<br />
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I saw quite a few people over at Boston.com today who were commenting on Romney's "Corporations are people" thing. The Republi-trolls were all "you people are supporting the EUROPEAN way, rather than the AMERICAN way." Fuck off. Has it occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, since the people of Europe have been doing this "having a country" thing longer than we have, they might just know WTF they're doing?Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-7999365720772022302011-08-13T17:51:00.001-04:002011-08-17T01:36:46.261-04:00Stepping into the Twilight ZoneSo I've been re-watching The Twilight Zone on Netflix. I loved that show when I was a teenager. It was on Channel 11 from New York (11N on my cable system at the time) right after Star Trek. So I watched it a lot, because, insomnia. Anyway, I've only watched up to episode 4 of Season 2, but I've had some interesting observations.<br />
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It's so strange how the world changes. <b>S1 Ep7</b> is called "Lonely." It's about a prisoner sent into solitary on some asteroid (in the 1950s, all asteroids are exactly like earth). He's so lonely that one supply guy smuggles him in a girl-bot. Girl-bot, who is called Alicia, is supposedly identical to a human woman. Which, well, they pretty much treat women like girl-bots on the show, so I guess maybe she is. But then Supply Guy comes back years later, to tell Prisoner Guy that solitary on asteroids has been outlawed as cruel and unusual. They're taking him back to Earth. But oops. Supply guy forgot about Alicia. They can't fit that much extra weight on the rocket ship home! Prisoner Guy gets mad. Alicia cries. Supply guy also gets mad, and shoots Alicia. Problem solved. Um, what?? Prisoner Guy is upset, but he just sort of shrugs it off and goes home. WTF is the "moral" of this story??<br />
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The next episode (<b>S1 Ep8</b>), "Time Enough at Last," is one I really liked when I first saw it. You know, the one where Burgess Meredith is reading in a bank vault when "the bombs" go off. He's the last guy on Earth, and he's finally going to have a chance to get some reading done, but he breaks his glasses. First off, his wife is some kind of Sadist. They don't bother to make her seem a person with human motivations. She just wants to go over and play cards with the neighbors, so she viciously, gleefully scribbles out the text in his book with a fat black marker. The hell? She couldn't just throw it away. Oh, no. She even put it back in his hiding place under the chair cushion so she could see the horror on his face when he found it defaced. Because that's how a person would act, right? My biggest question with this episode, though, was might there not be a drug store or optician somewhere that has an undamaged pair of glasses he could use? Or a magnifying glass. That would have been an "oh hell, that figures" moment for me, rather than "this is even worse than the end of civilization!"<br />
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Re-watching <b>S1 Ep15</b>, "I Shot an Arrow into the Air," was so much different than watching it for the first time. As a kid, I just took it on face value and nodded. But now, it has me going WTF? So 8 guys take off in a rocket (they're always rockets in the 1950s), and they have a malfunction. They crash land somewhere, and half of them are dead. A fifth guy is dying. One of the other three guys gets mad when the Captain keeps giving Dying Guy water. They've landed in a desert, and the non-dying people are going to need the water, Mad Guy insists. Dying Guy dies while they're arguing about it. So now the three still alive are looking around, assessing their situation. They have no idea where they are. All they can see is rocky-hill type desert in every direction. One of them helpfully suggests that the sun is the same size as it is on Earth, and the Captain says that oh, that must mean we're on an asteroid in the same orbit as Earth. Seriously?? The same orbit? With the same atmosphere and gravity? And you come up with asteroid? Oh yeah. All asteroids are exactly like earth. I forgot. Anyway, the Captain sends out Third Guy and Mad Guy to look for anything that isn't rocky desert. Mad Guy comes back alone with Third Guy's water. Captain wrings it out of Mad Guy that Third Guy died "while they were separated." Captain doesn't believe him, and insists on seeing Third Guy's body. So they trek over to where it was, but Third Guy is gone. They find him a little way up a nearby slope. Third Guy is dying, but points uphill and draws ╪ in the dust before he dies. Captain starts walking up the hill, and Mad Guy kills him. Mad Guy climbs up the hill and see a road with telephone poles. Because oh, wait, asteroids are NOT just like earth. You're on Earth you stupid assholes! WTF are these people even doing in space?<br />
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This show is bizarre to me in a way it was not meant to be. I still like it, but damn. Women are evil shrews like Burgess Meredith's wife, plastic airheads who needed to be patted on the back, and generally non-persons. And people most definitely do not think they are living in The Good Old Days, much as the Religious Reich would like us to believe they were. The Old Days are so un-good, that people in the Twilight Zone are desperate to escape them. These people think their lives are over complicated, and too "modern" with too much technology. They live in fear of another war. They long to escape modern life for "The Good Old Days," which to them was back in the 18-somethings when every boy was Huck Finn. (See S1 Ep.30 "A Stop at Willoughby.) Technology is out to get them (See S1 Ep.17, "The Fever" where a man falls victim to a possessed slot machine, and S2 Ep. 4 "The Thing About Machines" where every piece of tech in a guy's house is trying to kill him and/or drive him insane.)<br />
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Women as non-persons is best demonstrated by S1 Ep. 36, "World of His Own." Playwright Guy is snuggling in his writing room with a woman who calls him "Master" (no, really), and seems to exist to serve him drinks and cuddles. His wife comes home early and sees them through the front window. When she comes in to confront them, Playwright Guy is alone. They argue, and eventually he tells her that Cuddle Woman (Mary) is not real. He wrote her into existence by dictating into his tape machine thing. Wife (Victoria) tries to leave, so he dictates an angry elephant in the front hall, trapping her there. Finally he badgers Victoria into staying so she can meet Mary. Mary gushes, sniffles, and asks him not to bring her back again if they can't be together. He sends Mary away, because Victoria <i>is</i> his wife, after all. He explains to Victoria that she was just too perfect, and made him feel inadequate. So he created Mary, who didn't. (Apparently Victoria reminded him too much of a human being.) Victoria is still mad (shock!), so Playwright Guy waggles an admonishing finger and goes to the safe. He shows Victoria an envelope with her name on it and says that he invented her, too. Vic doesn't believe him, and throws her envelope into the fireplace. And then disappears. So he starts to write her back, and then decides, oh wait, never mind. And writes in Mary as his new wife. WTF?! And no one is going to notice that suddenly he has a fawning blonde wife called Mary, or wonder where dark-haired Victoria went? Apparently not. Women are perfectly interchangeable, after all. It's not like they're people. That whole episode was just sickening. But it has great reviews on IMDb, so I guess someone likes the idea of writing away your horrible selfish wife and writing in a worshipful airhead who calls you Master. Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-45086686515002532072011-06-26T02:57:00.000-04:002011-06-26T02:57:11.916-04:00Another Thought of the DayOr two thoughts, maybe. The first is that I broke my right pinkie nail down where it hurts if you break it. So ow. Typing is fun. I glued it back together with a silk nail wrap and some acrylic nail powder. So it should hold a while, as long as I don't type too much on it. <br />
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The second thought is about Things That Happened before I Was Alive. It seems to me that when someone challenges, say, religious text on the money, in public buildings, on license plates, or what have you, the stock answer is a variation on "well, it's been there a long time, and no one has complained before." Lovely. I wasn't alive to complain before. I'm alive now, and I'm not happy with it now. You don't see the same "well no one complained before" response when black people complain about the Confederate flag flying over the court house. Well, ok, you <i>do</i>, but no one takes the person saying it seriously. So what's up with that?<br />
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Which brings me to... I have to wonder if this country is irreparably divided. It becomes clearer to me every day that the kind of country the Evangelical, religious right wants to live in is not the kind of country <i>I</i> want to live in. My vision of the future looks like the United Federation of Planets. Theirs looks like a cross between medieval serfdom, Leave It to Beaver, and Little House on the Prairie. So hell. Oh, the books I need to write if I can ever concentrate long enough to get them out of my head...Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-39999722440039275222011-05-28T21:19:00.000-04:002011-05-28T21:19:54.755-04:00It's that time of year.It's Memorial Day Weekend. Rather than honoring veterans, it's clearly time for <i>I'm Way More Americaner Than Y'all Are</i> <br />
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For the record: No, this is NOT one nation under the magic sky fairy, and no, I will not repost, retweet or forward any sentiments saying that it is. If that disqualifies me from being "a real American" in your eyes, then fuck you. And fyi, the "under god" bit is 100% incompatible with the VERY NEXT WORD, <i>indivisible</i>. The word "god" divides us by its very nature. Also, fuck you again.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-87629540143963333062011-05-19T01:38:00.000-04:002011-05-19T01:38:26.493-04:00I suck at this.Damn, I suck at keeping up posting on here, don't I? I guess I just haven't had much to say, and I'm still going through tons of crap offline. <br />
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Anyway, I'm on here today, because of little Camden Pierce Hughes. This kid was 6 years old. His mother suffocated him in New Hampshire, drove to Maine and dumped the body, and was eventually arrested at a rest area in Massachusetts. Back in Texas, where they lived, the mother's ex-boyfriend had this to say (You know where this is going already, don't you?):<br />
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<blockquote>’’I’m the only daddy [Camden] has ever had,’’ Miller said. ’’Her and I and [Camden] had a very strong faith in Christ. That’s why I know he’s in a better place, and I’m glad he’s there.’’</blockquote><br />
Say what????!!!! <b><i>"I’m glad he’s there."</i></b> ??? WTF, Chuck? How can anyone say something like that? He's <i><b>glad</b></i> the kid is dead? Glad??? Seriously??? And whoop-dee-frickin-doo if Mommy had a "very strong faith in Christ." It didn't stop her from murdering her little boy, now did it? I don't even.... Unreal.<br />
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Anyway, the story is here:<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/05/state_police_qu.html"> http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2011/05/state_police_qu.html</a>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-15721987627369191552011-03-02T12:54:00.000-05:002011-03-02T12:54:19.737-05:00Long time, no seeWow, I haven't had anything to really write about in over a month! I hadn't realized it had been that long. I've mostly been busy with the house stuff (cleaning, repair, refinancing, new insurance, blah, blah, blah, endless mess). Plus I've had a lot going on as far as working on the bath & body company, and doing some 3d work. all at once. I hate busy, but there you go.<br />
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Anyway, I was wondering about something just now. Did you ever notice, that religious people often charge atheists with providing "something to replace religion" in people's lives? Why is that? Really? I can't even count the number of times that I've heard statements like "well, if you're going to take away people's religion, then you have to give them something to replace it." Why do I have to do that? For one thing, I'm not "taking" anyone's religion, any more than I would be "taking" someone's imaginary six foot rabbit away by saying I can't see it. If they suddenly realize "holy crap, it's not there!" does that mean I took it? And do I have to go to Toys R Us to get the a stuffed bunny now? Wait, Harvey was alive! Does that mean I need to replace him with a <i>pet</i> rabbit, then? Oh, boy. <br />
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Seriously. If CBS tells Charlie Sheen to go to rehab, and he comes out drug free, does that mean CBS is responsible for finding him a replacement for his drugs?<br />
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It's not like I even understand completely what they're "losing" by not having church. Church, to me, is sitting in uncomfortable seats in a huge room full of expensive windows, and listening to cherry-picked stories with questionable moral value. It also entails getting up early on Sunday (Saturday for SDAs), buying clothes that I would never wear to anything other than church, and <i>way</i> too many strangers touching me. What would I give them to replace that? How about staying home in your pajamas, sitting in bed or a comfy chair, and watching old episodes of "Aesop and Son" from <i>The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show</i>? Seems like a huge improvement to me.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-67905072248779839352011-01-10T01:20:00.002-05:002011-01-10T01:20:30.279-05:00Thought of the DayWhen vampires drink blood, we call it a horror movie. When humans drink blood, we call it church.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-39272357288848936362010-12-11T01:10:00.000-05:002010-12-11T01:10:55.900-05:00What they don't getDo places even have the slightest clue that "a portion of all purchases goes to Christian charities" is not a universally good thing? I was just doing some online clothes shopping. I clicked a link, and the site's main page had a big announcement in their rotating banner saying that very thing. I didn't even bother to look at the clothes. Buh-bye. Frankly, I would prefer that any charity money coming from me would go to actually helping people, rather than handing out Bibles or communion wafers. <br />
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Do they think Muslims and Jews want to be supporting their Christian charities? Really?Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-87727139382114422122010-11-28T17:14:00.001-05:002010-11-28T19:44:50.124-05:00This is embarrassingThis afternoon I was over at <a href="http://www.stopsylvia.com/">www.stopsylvia.com</a> reading about Sylvia Browne, psychic fraud. My mom used to love Sylvia, and thought she was the end-all-be-all psychic. This was back in the 1990s, after I had realized there were no gods, but before I'd given up completely on the paranormal. In fact, at the time, I was kind of into that John Edward show. He was (is?) better at it than she is, btw. At least he <span style="font-style: italic;">sounds</span> sincere and doesn't come across as an asshole. So maybe I should just say that he's not mean like she is. But anyway.<br />
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So I was at that site, and I was reading all the accounts of e-mails, video transcripts, and failed predictions. And I decided that it would take me a lot less time to just go watch them on YouTube. You know what? I got to this one (yes, I also watched parts 1-3) and I couldn't watch any longer. This is just embarrassing to watch. It made me feel like I was watching a con man swindle an elderly person out of her/his life savings.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nVoaiWen3k&feature=related">YouTube - Montel's final show with Sylvia Browne (Part 4)</a><br />
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I left as comment, which is awaiting moderation and in all likelihood will never be posted. But here it is:<br />
<blockquote>That was embarrassing. I'm more psychic than she is. "Oh, yes. He's around you." "Yes, They're together." "Oh, it's terrible when we lose a child." Give me a break.</blockquote>That pretty much sums up what Sylvia told this grieving mother. Her twelve year old son, Daniel, had been hit by a car. Daniel's mother asked if he was around her, if he was ok, and if he needed to tell her anything. Now seriously, what is Sylvia going to say to that? No, he's not?? Of course she's going to say he's ok, he's with God, blah, blah. Then Daniel's mother asked about her sister. Sylvia told her to be more specific. So she said that her sister had died, and that she had adored Daniel. Again, what else is Sylvia going to say? She agreed that, yes, her sister had loved Daniel, and that they were together. Oh, and we're all going to be together one day. But it takes so long my sweet Lord, right? She totally sounded like that George Harrison song. (No offense to George, who was completely awesome and underrated.) The rest of Sylvia's crap was her talking about how terrible it is to lose a child. Well no shit, Sherlock. And then Montel, who was at least trying to be helpful, gave her some talk-show-host pseudo therapy about how she needs to try and move on so she doesn't get sucked into depression (too late). And Sylvia started telling her how how grief is selfish, because the dead person is in happy lala god land, but we want them with us. FFS. What part of any of that is the least bit psychic?<br />
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But at least this woman seemed comforted. If you watch some of the other videos of her on YouTube, they're not so comforting. I really hurt for the woman whose boyfriend died and was never found. Old "psychic" Sylvia tells her, oh, he's in water. It's like that girl missing in Aruba. The guy was FDNY and died in the WTC on 9/11. Then there were the parents whose teenage daughter died. They wanted to know how she died. Sylvia said she was shot. No, the girl dropped dead in her bedroom, but the autopsy didn't find any cause. Or the girl who was abducted from hr front yard. Sylvia said she had been, I kid you not, sold into white slavery in Japan. They found the girl's body eventually. She was already dead when Sylvia gave her prediction, and she had never left Texas. That was a disgusting one. She also <a href="http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/montel_shawnhornbeck.shtml">told Shawn Hornbeck's parents that he was dead</a>, and gave directions to his body. Well gee, that kid was finally rescued after years, and he is still alive. What if she said that to police in a missing persons case and they stopped looking?<br />
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Oh, and apparently if you speak out against Sylvia loudly enough, she'll try to dig up dirt on you. So yeah. Whatever. Try it, honey. Maybe I should really piss her off and milk the publicity so I can afford a car. LOL.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-38162388252075161862010-11-17T13:08:00.000-05:002010-11-17T13:08:56.904-05:00The Point of Prayer?A recent issue of Reader's Digest has a feature story (book excerpt?) about General Hugh Shelton who fell in his yard, and was initially told he would never walk again or even move his arms. Not far into the story, he gets all feel goody about how he prayed that if God would just give him a chance, something to work with, then he would give his all. And since it appears that he did indeed walk again, the implication is that his god answered his prayers. I'm sure that's what most people who read that story will take away from it. But what I'm taking away is that in that case, it means that his god hated Chris Reeve. Because let's face it. The whole world of movie-watching, Christian praying people prayed for Chris Reeve. <br />
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Don't get me wrong. I'm really glad that General Shelton managed to walk again. But I would totally have thrown him under the bus to see Superman get out of the wheelchair. In fact, that would have been a nice miracle for a god who wants people to believe and to worship him. The followers pray, and the insanely famous paraplegic gets up and walks. That would be a pretty conclusive miracle, especially if he'd sent some priest/pastor/minister or whatever as a miracle-conduit. But no. What happens to Chris Reeve? He fights like hell for ten years, and then just dies. And within months, his non-smoker wife dies of lung cancer, orphaning their son. This is not showing me any evidence of a god who gave a crap that all those people were praying for him and his family. <br />
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Now is the time that apologists would get all "oh, well, it wasn't in God's plan." Oh, ok. So even though the whole world was asking, their god won't change his plan. Except for the General, whose initial diagnosis in the emergency room was likely from a doctor who wanted to prepare him for a worst case scenario. The rest of the doctors seem to have been less certain, because no one else ever said that to him, AFAICT. So this guy had a huge challenge, and he might well have spent the rest of his life in that chair. But it wasn't any kind of miracle that he healed and regained mobility. It was an experimental procedure, some great doctors and therapists at Walter Reed, and a whole lot of hard work on his part. Anyway, if this god won't change his plans no matter how many people ask, then what is the point in praying? It must have been his plan for the General to walk again, right? In fact, what was the point of him even trying hard? If it was part of his god's plan that he should walk again, couldn't he have just sat there watching TV and it would have happened anyway? For that matter, what is the point of anything if some god is just up there planning everything? And how the hell is that supposed to mesh with this "free will" thing he's supposed to have going on? Because if I can change the plan, shouldn't the god be able to change it? And if I can't, where's my free will?<br />
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Anyway, it seems to me that if the whole world can't pray Chris Reeve out of the chair, or even keep him alive long enough for technology to get him out, then one desperate Dear God letter isn't going to do anything. Furthermore, if the dude that created the universe really gave a crap about either of them, wouldn't he have kept Chris on the horse, and kept Gen. Shelton on the ladder in the tree? Or is that beyond him? I just... the more I think about it, the less sense religion makes.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-80635512618490061062010-11-11T10:16:00.000-05:002010-11-11T10:16:04.726-05:00Late-Term Abortions: Q&A With the Last Remaining Doctor Who Performs Them – TIME Healthland<a href="http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/05/qa-the-last-remaining-doctor-who-performs-late-term-abortions-speaks-out/">Late-Term Abortions: Q&A With the Last Remaining Doctor Who Performs Them – TIME Healthland</a><br /><br />I thought this was pretty scary, actually. There's one guy left doing these, and three weeks after Dr. Tiller was gunned down, he's getting death threats against his family?? Pro-life, my ass. More like pro-forced-birth. These are the things I think of when I hear that Christianity is non-violent/different from Islam or whatever. Sorry, kids. Your crazies murder people, too. And they're just as proud of it.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-19056409422066347312010-11-10T23:53:00.001-05:002010-11-10T23:54:20.484-05:00Bill Nye -- 2010 Humanist of the Year<a href="http://thehumanist.org/humanist/10_nov_dec/Nye.html">Bill Nye’s speech in acceptance of the 2010 Humanist of the Year Award</a><br />
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So I just read this speech. RichardDawkins.net Tweeted the link. Bill Nye's awesome points went up by one. The speech is full of good bits, but among my favorites is one from the Q&A afterward:<br />
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<blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>It gets me when people ask, why are you guys doing that? Why are you sending a mission to Pluto? What are you going to find? We don’t know—that’s why we’re going!</blockquote><br />
Nice. When I hear people asking why, I always think "well, because we finally figured out how." I mean, why wouldn't we? It makes me sad when people don't get how important pure science is -- especially space exploration. If we don't get this climate change thing under control, or if we run out of room, or if an asteroid or something is coming for us, we'd better not all be on the same rock. For real. We're getting a near miss in April of 2029 and again in April of 2036 from one particular asteroid, named Apophis. (Stargate fans, of course, are used to the Earth being threatened by Apophis.)<br />
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Anyway, yeah. go read Bill's speech. And revel in the knowledge that some scientists are also famous, beloved television personalities.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-56296273103220077202010-10-29T19:04:00.000-04:002010-10-29T19:04:44.142-04:00We Only Take "NO" for an Answer!The Chief of the Blue Meanies says this to Max, right before he sends Glove after Old Fred. I'm talking, of course, about Yellow Submarine, the 1968 animated Beatles movie. The real Beatles are featured briefly, the movie is interwoven with their music. Voice actors portray Beatle characters. I have always loved this movie.<br />
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But last night, I was watching <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39880604/displaymode/1283/for/facebookvideo">Keith Olbermann</a> talk about Teabaggers who want to get rid of minimum wage, public education, non-discrimination laws, birthright citizenship, and on, and on, and on. And I was suddenly reminded of that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9oWl5ydQAA&feature=share">first scene</a> in Yellow Submarine, when the Blue Meanies take over Pepperland. So the Blue Meanie Chief tells Max that "We Meanies only take "no" for an answer." Max then answers "No," to everything else he says. And then they start bombing Pepperland with lightning bolts, turning the people to stone, and draining the color from their world. The Chief sends Glove (a flying blue glove with a sinister laugh) to smash things and chase down Old Fred, who is fleeing to look for help. Glove flies across the psychedelic landscape smashing things. He smashes the word "YES." He smashes the "K" and the "W" in the word "KNOW." laughs, and flies after Fred.<br />
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This was the moment I realized that Glove was a Republican. Or, given that we're all speaking British, maybe just generic conservatives. But either way, and intended or not, it's a damned good metaphor for American politics today. And for the first time, I really thought that scene was sad.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-40446063713596058522010-10-19T14:58:00.000-04:002010-10-19T14:58:27.880-04:00ThinkProgress » Univision Accepts $80,000 To Air GOP Group’s Ads That Tell Latinos Not To Vote<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/19/univision-latinos-for-reform/">ThinkProgress » Univision Accepts $80,000 To Air GOP Group’s Ads That Tell Latinos Not To Vote</a><br /><br />You know, really. Just when I think they've hit bottom, there go the Republicans, sinking again. Don't Vote? Seriously? That's their plan? Dear Latinos: Don't Vote. It will empower you. How freaking stupid do they think Latinos are?<br /><br />Let's follow this train of logic, shall we? The ad complains about Democrats, and then says "don't vote." Ostensibly because Democrats shouldn't be able to count on their vote, since they don't do enough for them. Oh, sure. And if they don't vote, and the Democrats lose because of it, then the Republicans win. And if the Republicans win, that's supposed to be somehow <span style="font-style: italic;">better</span> for Latinos? Really? That sounds a lot like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Republicans want to ship all the Latinos back to Mexico. Even the ones who didn't come from there, AFAICT. (Tangent: I once told a Texan who was bitching about bilingual accommodations that most of the Spanish-speaking people in my part of the country are American citizens from Puerto Rico. That just pissed him off more. The Puerto Rican lady who worked with us did not comment.)<br /><br />Anyway, yeah. So apparently Latinos are supposed to make some kind of statement and get noticed by allowing Republicans to win. Um, when Republicans notice Latinos, they tell the police to ask them for papers. And then they put up a fence around Mexico.<br /><br />I haven't even gotten to what a betrayal it is for Univision to run an ad like that in the first place. It's like smacking all their viewers in the face. You wouldn't see the Lifetime Channel running an ad telling women not to vote. So, WTF Univision? Was the $80K really that important to you?Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5671776775406736602.post-80253295454294678352010-10-17T20:12:00.000-04:002010-10-17T20:12:42.240-04:00The Media Can Legally Lie<a href="http://www.relfe.com/media_can_legally_lie.html">The Media Can Legally Lie</a><br /><br />Whoa! That doesn't mean what I think it does, right?<br /><br /><blockquote>In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States.</blockquote><br /><br />SAY WHAT?! **insert tire screeching sound here** <br /><br />Why did I not know this until like five minutes ago? Why aren't we shouting this from the rooftops? FOX News <strong>WENT TO COURT</strong> to "prove" that they have the right to lie on the air any time they want. This doesn't bother conservatards? I am kind of at a loss here, because I'm apparently incapable of understanding why anyone would continue to insist that this farce of a network is "fair and balanced." I would like to believe that, like me, the non-FOX-employees spouting that nonsense are largely unaware of this court case. And further, I would like to believe that at least some of them would actually care that FOX came right out and said in a court of law that they lie on the air, that they have the right to lie on the air, and that they have the right to fire anyone who threatens to report them for lying on the air. WTF? <br /><br />But the thing I <em>really</em> can't understand, is how an appeals court could possibly agree with them. FCC policy doesn't have the weight of a law or a rule? What? I am just shaking my head here.Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10774743902893292141noreply@blogger.com0