Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Religion, I guess?

I've been discussing religion a lot lately, for some reason. My thoughts keep coming back to one thing. 
(This may be a poor example, being as I wasn't alive in this era, but I think it works; let me know if it doesn't.)
I would imagine that some of the worst racism of the time happened during the Civil Rights era, because white men were afraid that black people would acquire human rights. It serves to reason that some of the most ridiculous generalizations were occurring at that time; one black criminal commits a crime, so all black people are criminals. The best way that black people fought this was to stand up and prove these generalizations wrong; Martin Luther King, Jr., with his brilliance, compassion and gravitas comes to mind. 
There are a lot of generalizations being made about Christianity right now; one  wingnut murders a doctor, so all Christians are murderous crazies. Inevitably, at this point in the conversation, someone declares that this is a gross generalization and that not all Christians are insane terrorists. 
So why the hell haven't the sane Christians stood up and said that this is not an accurate representation of themselves? Take, for example, Catholicism (which, to be fair, serves my point the best). Most, or at least a huge amount, of American Catholics are pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and anti-child molesters; why aren't these Catholics standing up and presenting themselves as a better representation of Catholicism? Force people to acknowledge that not all Catholics are bigots. 

Monday, June 1, 2009

Rest in Peace, Dr Tiller

There's a new article over at Huffington Post by Frank Schaeffer, a by all accounts decent guy who helped create the religious right wing movement. He defected 25 years ago and has since campaigned for intelligent and rational government policies. He used to write incendiary books,  obliquely stating that abortionists should be 'dealt with the same way people would deal with Hitler.'


Mr Schaeffer is the only person I've seen step up and apologize for whatever role he may have played in Dr Tiller's death. 


Unfortunately, in his post, he also stated that late term abortion should be illegal. Because I often find myself elated at seeing his name atop a new article, I was disappointed to read this statement of his because it shows a misunderstanding of late term abortion.


There are a few things wrong with the late term abortion argument. 


1) Late-term abortion does not occur because the mother doesn't want the baby.  If the mother didn't want the baby, she would've chosen to have an abortion much, much earlier on. It's not like the mother just forgot that there was something growing in her and didn't remember to get an abortion until the third trimester.


2) No, and I mean no, doctor would perform an abortion on a viable late term pregnancy. Late term abortions are performed because the fetus' brain didn't form correctly or because the heart only has one chamber or any number of horrifying problems that can come up during pregnancy. These are completely non viable, and in most cases would die the second they leave the mother. In many other cases, the child will live for a few days, maybe a week, and die painfully. Even without all that, the life of the mother is often at risk.


3) Late term abortions are not entered into lightly. As I've said, the mothers and fathers were happily expecting a child, only to discover far too late that there is a debilitating and dreadful problem with the fetus. I doubt anyone can comprehend the pain and horror of that situation. Not to mention the lasting effects for those poor near-parents, who after the operation will be told by 'pro-life' activists that they are murderers. 


Late term abortions have been focused on by the religious right because it makes a good story, a story that makes it near impossible to support late term abortions.


And while this isn't on the topic of late term abortions, I have yet to see an anti choice activist step up and fight for low-income housing, universal health care and comprehensive sex ed, all things which would almost certainly reduce the amount of abortions. Could it be that the goal isn't truly to reduce abortions but simply to control women?


Adding...here's a brief listing of the diseases that would cause a late term abortion. Keep in mind that these are just a few of many. 

Anencephaly
Spina bifida
Hydrocephalus (this one's particularly nice; there's barely any brains, just water, and the head is massively oversized.)
Potter's syndrome
Lethal dwarfism
Holoprosencephaly

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

If I could drive...

I would be in San Francisco getting arrested right now.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Currently...

working on: more homework than I knew could be physically done in one week, ballet routine en adagio, art/business finance hmwk, fashion designs, cleaning my room/house, giving a female character of mine a chance to get really scary 


interested in: Alexander Wang, Vivienne Westwood, and Stella McCartney. Minimalism. Ways to keep my hair off my face. Cooking Asian food (Malaysian mostly). War photography. Deadpool. Japanese culture. The massive amount of sudden wildflowers we get every spring. Pomegranates.


reading: The Martian Chronicles, a collection of Bradbury shorts. I've read it a few hundred times and I keep coming back. 


listening: Chopin - Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp Minor, Shirley Manson - Samson and Delilah, Kronos Quartet - Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground), Rise Against - Swing Life Away, Sigur Ros - Saeglopur


watching: Coffee and Cigarettes. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The Crow. The Machinist (even though seeing Christian Bale that skinny makes me want to cry). Batman Begins (yay, he's healthy again!). The Office, US. 30 Rock.


wearing: old-school Joker t-shirt from (I think) the 90s. stupidly skinny jeans and gladiator sandals. 


plans: more homework (aiming for at least forty credits this semester, which is way high). wool-blend Vivienne Westwood knockoff coat, which is completely daft for 85+ heat. use the word daft more often. crepe plaid shirt. write something good again. become friends with someone who knows how to draw comics or learn myself. 

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Next Supreme Court Justice

Warning: quixotism ahead.

Dear Mr President: 
There's a lot of people talking about the next US Supreme Court Justice, and well they should. You could nominate another black man, or the first Hispanic, or the third woman. Or you can nominate the first openly gay man or woman to a national, tenured seat on the bench. Kathleen Sullivan, a First Amendment scholar and former Dean of Stanford Law School, or Pam Karlan, a Stanford law professor and founding director of Stanford's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. Both women are gay.
There's not much to stop you, Sir. The Republican opposition have admitted that they don't have much chance of preventing your nominee from being confirmed. On top of that, the vast majority of people in this country support gay rights, even if many of them do not support the right to marry. According to a Quinnipiac University Poll, 57-38 percent support civil unions and marriage-like rights for gays and lesbians. That's a huge majority, Mr President. 
Gays are the only true minority left. In this day and age, if a radio host talks about "wetbacks", "niggers", "kikes,"  or "cunts" there is an instant uproar on the internet, and the person is either fired or given a severe warning. The same cannot be held true for the LGBT community; they are the only minority that it is socially acceptable to discriminate against.
During your campaign, Sir, while talking about repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, you said, "All that is required is leadership." Gays and lesbians helped elect you. Please, Sir, lead. 

Monday, May 4, 2009

Ah, evangelists, are you ever right?

Why don't crazy people believe that god created gay people, perhaps to curb rampant overpopulation? Why don't crazy people believe that god created condoms for the same purpose? If they're right, and god created and controls everything (god has a plan, y'know) than why does that not apply to anything sexual? 
Oh, right, because sex is dirty and god couldn't have had anything to do with it. 
Sex=death. Welcome to the monkeyhouse. 

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A few helpful words for the GOP

The Republican party can go one of two ways here, with Arlen Specter's bitchslap/wakeup call. They can either do the intelligent thing and move towards the center, or they can move further right. While I firmly believe that they're too stupid/insane to do the prudent thing and move center, I'll snarkily offer them some advice in case that's what they decide.

  1. Find some way to keep Michele Bachmann from speaking. Muzzle, surgery, safety pins, I don't care. The woman has become a standard-bearer for the most ridiculous element of the Republican party: hateful, ignorant, arrogant, lying, outlandish. In case you're thinking, 'hey, censorship!', let me say that I'm not trying to shut her up because what she says is abhorrent, I simply think the Republicans should shut her up because she and people like her are killing their party. This is strategic, not legal or moral. 
  2. Stop apologizing to Rush Limbaugh when you insult him. Insulting him is good. He deserves it, for one thing. For another, he alienates independents and moderates. For a third, when you apologize to him, you look like a six year old girl twirling your pigtails in the middle of recess. 
  3. Give up the gay marriage fight. It's a razor thin margin between people who believe gay marriage should be legal and people who don't, and a large majority of people believe that gay people should have the same rights. This is not a fight people care about anymore, and either way, it's not a fight you'll win.
  4. Get Mitch McConnell checked out; the man always looks constipated. 
  5. Actually become the party of fiscal responsibility. You've been claiming to be for decades, since at least Reagan (the idea that Reagan was fiscally responsible is demonstrably false). There's no shortage of really effin' smart economists in the world - ask them how, once this whole recession thing is over, to balance the budget and start to deflate the deficit. Then? Do it. 
  6. Quit with the 'big government bad' crap. This is a recession, and people are freaking out (well, maybe some of that is from swine flu). People don't want small government anymore. You can't make a government big enough for most people right now.
  7. Stop defending torture. I do not understand why this is a debate. 

Come on, Republicans. Return to the time and ideology (albeit updated) of, say, Eisenhower. Let's have two parties, what d'you say?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Specter!

Arlen Specter is now a democrat. Once Al Franken is seated, which, really, should've been a few months ago, the democrats will have a filibuster proof majority. Sit and bask in the awesome for a few moments. 
There's not a whole lot to say here that's not immediately obvious: this is a metaphor for a dying party, the republicans have moved so far right that the only people left are completely crazy, blah blah blah. 
I've always thought Specter was a pretty good guy, not perfect, but good. And the word is that he's a delegate type of congressman, meaning he represents what he thinks his constituents want, not what he wants. 
So welcome to the party, Senator Specter. 

Friday, April 24, 2009

Posted for my dad, except for the makeout thing.

The hidden note said: Way better than stopping to say, 'so it goes.'
asofterworld.com

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Greenspan

Whilst doing my American Gov't homework, I stumbled onto a quote from a speech by Alan Greenspan. Inexplicably, it reminded me of this Get Your War On from around 3/21/05.

Man 1: You didn't listen to Bush's speech at the National Defense University, did you? Some Sun Tzu wannabe at work had it on, and I stuffed so much cotton in my ears I CRIED TAMPONS.
Woman 1: Dude, I liked the speech! I'm a fan of Bush's words about democracy in the Middle East. I only wish that once they left his mouth, they'd turn around in midair and join together to form a magical word-fist and knock him upside the head until he took 'em seriously. 
Woman 2: Sounds like they're finally taking 'em seriously in Lebanon...
Man 1: Oh, 'finally,' huh? Listen to Dr. Encyclopedia Lebanonica over here.
(Also: feeding tube.)

Standing Ovation

Maine! A state I've always wanted to live in for some bizarre reason! Maine!
For those not keeping track: Iowa, Vermont, sorta-DC, Massachusetts, Connecticut! 
And soon: New York and Maine!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Lost, then Found

Your daddy was a good man
Had a smile that weighed a ton
There was nothing in that man but life
It's all I hear from everyone -
The time I should have been there to see the hero or the clown
But I don't know, it seems like sometimes 
Somethings are best left lost, then found

He grew up on the ocean and loved the open sea
He must've felt alive out there alone and strong and wild and free
Even cold and tired, lost and looking for the ground
He should have figured sometimes the best things in life are lost, then found

Always say the best is lost, then found
Whatever it is you're going through the best things in life are coming around
The future's just a worry, the past is just a dream
This isn't my opinion, it's only what I've seen

He grew into a soldier and he fought in many wars
The wars at home and wars with songs, the forgotten war before Vietnam
And I wonder what it felt like when they handed him a gun
I wonder if he killed a father, I wonder if he killed a son

He tried to be preacher and sort of almost was
But he couldn't find his place in faith he fought with teachers and fought with God
He never took it easy, he never settled down
He never realized sometimes the best things in life are lost, then found

Always say the best is lost, then found
Whatever it is you're going through the best things in life are coming around
The future's just a worry, the past is just a dream
This isn't my opinion, it's only what I've seen

The plain truth is my father died in jail
I wonder what that room was like
I wonder how his busted body felt
And I'll never get to know those things unless I get that far down

I guess that's why they say sometimes the best things in life are lost, then found
Always say the best is lost, then found
Whatever it is you're going through the best things in life are coming around
The future's just a worry, the past is just a dream
This isn't my opinion, it's only what I've seen
It's only what I've seen

10 Lost, Then Found.m4a


(alright, so I tried for an hour to upload the song mp3; I couldn't, so you'll have to download it if you want to hear it. it's definitely worth the download, though.)

How is it possible that there's actually a debate about torture?

Why did Obama release the torture memos if not to (figuratively in this instance) impeach the Bush administration? While I'm willing to admit that the man has faults, I don't think he's the type to do something like release CIA memos if he wasn't going to do something about it or wasn't expecting someone else to do something about it. 

Friday, April 17, 2009

Bridges burned, fingers crossed

An area referred to as The Perfect Storm, located in the Swan Nebula. 

Oh, Jason Statham...

Apparently, there's a new movie out called Crank. About a man who dies, but through some deus ex machina/macguffin is brought back to life. In order to keep his heart running, he has to constantly absorb electricity by grabbing power lines and such. This is such a hilariously preposterous premise that I now desperately want to see this movie, solely to fulfill my mental image of myself on the floor of the movie theater, giggling furiously. 
Also, I am bored enough tonight to actually watch Episode I. Man, eff George Lucas. 
Adding...Wow, Episode II is worse than I remembered.

Gay marriage


via videosift.com


This morning, a McCain campaign architect stated that the GOP should back gay marriage. 

After Prop 8 hit me (it took a few weeks for it to sink in), I didn't think I'd get over the hurt. This isn't one of those big abstract issues - this is truly something that affects me and many of the people I know. There's been a girl in my life that I could see myself marrying, when I'm old enough. 52% of my state thinks that I shouldn't be able to. To wake up in the morning in a hotel in San Francisco, turn on the news and learn that Iowa had legalized gay marriage was the best antidepressant I could've hoped for. 
Keep your fingers crossed that the CA Supreme Court will back it's original decision. 

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Tim'rous beasties

I am moving to Scotland. 

Stop pretending.

No matter how hard you try, Zac Efron will never be the young version of Matthew Perry.