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Monday, January 25th, 2010
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12:20 am - This is my guest book. Neato, huh?
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Okay, I had this idea.
This might be one of the last PUBLIC (non-meme, non-political-ranting) posts I do in my journal, and I was thinking it might be neat to know who stops by. Since there is no hit counter for LJ (or at least, a hit counter that I *want* to use), I thought I'd set up a sort of guest book.
If you read me but never friended me (which would be frustrating since I do almost all of my posts as friends-only), or just stopped by, please drop a comment. I'm curious whom the gawds drag past my interwebulary doorstep.
Of course, adding you is not out of the question at all.
And while you're here, you're welcome to stick a pin in the map and say where you hail from.
Create your own visitor map!
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
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2:48 pm
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Oh noes! The President has talked to Hugo Chavez, and heee's an eeeeenemy!
Oh wait. Didn't Nixon talk to Mao? I thought Mao was an enemy. And a COMMIE.
And I have this vague recollection of Reagan talking to this guy from the Evil Empire. Like that guy with the red plop-mark on his head? That guy with the Cold War? Gorbachev? As I recall, that one didn't end up in DOOOOM.
But oh no. If a DEMOCRAT talks to someone who doesn't like us, it MUST mean we're capitulating to socialism. Because it's okay if a Republican talks to people whom we don't approve of, but it's not okay if it's a Democrat.
Sheesh. This double standard on when it is and is not okay to act like a responsible grown-up nation is exhausting.
Oh yes, and then there's the good Fred Phelps has done, whether or not he intended to.
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, October 3rd, 2008
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3:11 pm - A Lovely Rebuttal To Gov. Palin's Debate Showing-
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| Friday, September 12th, 2008
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9:22 pm - Yes, it's political. Deal with it.
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9:39 am - POLITICAL: ganked from metaquotes
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| Friday, September 5th, 2008
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8:43 am
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So I'm pretty familiar with the conservative viewpoint. I grew up in a staunch GOP household, and listened to both NPR and Rush Limbaugh on the radio. (My parents may have been Republicans, but the Republicans hadn't quite gone off the deep end before I left college, so my parents hadn't lost the ability to examine issues from both sides yet. They gave me the ability to compare and contrast different views objectively using facts and data, which is possibly the best thing they could have done for me as a person, and the worst thing they could have done for me as a Republican.)
One of the new Republicans' metathemes seems to be this "me-my-me-mine I don't owe nobody nuthin' I earned it so I'm gonna spend it" view.
Truly, this is a new idea without historical backing. It could only have cropped up in an amazingly wealthy country where it's citizens are issued a sense of entitlement along with a birth certificate.
There has NEVER been a civilization where the members of a community have been able to avoid passing on some portion of their labor and goods to the community. From communal cavedwellers, through the Classic Age, the Eastern kingdoms and empires, the Medieval age, the Rennaissance and Reformation, right into the Steam and Space Ages... NO-ONE has been able to exist as part of the community but not contibute to the community, except for criminals or the helpless. Even the Unabomber had to go into town with cash that he derived from some labor in order to buy goods for survival and bomb-making.
The only thing that has changed has been the proportion of the amount expected, going up or down with the relative wealth of the community and the degree of despotism and spendthriftiness of those at the top of the heap. Even those at the top of the heap are required to contribute to the upkeep of the community, in time if not in money.
So to say "I think that I shouldn't have to pay taxes" is, historically and sociologically speaking, disingenuous and naive. You would be ignoring the fact that the community is providing you with a great deal in goods and services, and expecting to receive those goods and services as your natural entitlement with no obligation to pay for them.
Hell, I wish I could avoid paying even the meager taxes I currently pay. But the only job I can think of that would allow me to suckle at the teat of society without giving anything back would be "bandit living in a cave in the woods". Or maybe paraplegic. And honestly, neither one appeals. So I'll just keep working at my job that exists as a part of the human community instead of a parasite on it, enjoy my paved roads and police force and running water and lack of foreign invaders and clean food and safe household goods, and keep on voting and engaging in political activism in order to keep the community at arm's-length instead of in my pants.
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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6:02 am
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My neologism for the day:
Rove-isionism: The pernicious practice of using prevarication and carefully edited statistics to scare or otherwise coerce impressionable people into voting against their own best interest. cf: Presidential Election 2000, Presidential Election 2004, "Swiftboat Veterans", Iraq War, George W Bush.
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, August 22nd, 2008
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10:02 am
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So, tenebrax, your LiveJournal reveals...
You are... 2% unique (blame, for example, your interest in sensory denial) and 24% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy vampires). When it comes to friends you are a total whore. In terms of the way you relate to people, you are keen to please. Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is intellectual.
Your overall weirdness is: 28(The average level of weirdness is: 27.
You are weirder than 65% of other LJers.)
Find out what your weirdness level is!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
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8:49 pm
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| Friday, June 27th, 2008
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10:07 pm - Ouch. Talk about your bad timing...
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The Nissan Armada SUV's marketing strategy revolves around how Really Big, Nay, Dare We Say MASSIVE Our Vehicle Is. In fact, only children will appreciate the sheer size of it, because they don't buy gasoline.
If that ad campaign had played four years ago, I'm sure it would have gone over like gangbusters. Today, not so much. Unless, of course, you are one of those misguided Limbaughsiles that thinks getting anally raped on gas prices in order to swell the Bush family's bank account equates to patriotism.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, June 21st, 2008
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11:26 am - I Wish You a Thoughtful Humanist Day
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"The choice is with us still, but the civilization now in jeopardy is all humanity. As the ancient myth makers knew, we are children equally of the earth and the sky. In our tenure of this planet we've accumulated dangerous evolutionary baggage — propensities for aggression and ritual, submission to leaders, hostility to outsiders — all of which puts our survival in some doubt. But we've also acquired compassion for others, love for our children and desire to learn from history and experience, and a great soaring passionate intelligence — the clear tools for our continued survival and prosperity. Which aspects of our nature will prevail is uncertain, particularly when our visions and prospects are bound to one small part of the small planet Earth. But up there in the cosmos, an inescapable perspective awaits. National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatic ethnic or religious or national identifications are a little difficult to support when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars. There are not yet obvious signs of extraterrestial intelligence, and this makes us wonder whether civilizationslike ours rush inevitably headlong to self-destruction. I dream about it, and sometimes they're bad dreams.
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"The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.
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"Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?"
~ Carl Sagan
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
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7:35 pm
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| Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
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7:41 pm - Open Letter to the Shrubya
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Why can't I own Canadians?
Thank you for reminding us to obey God's Law..
I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you support a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage..
As you said, "In the eyes of God marriage is based between a man a woman..
I try to share your knowledge with as many people as I can..
When someone tries to defend homosexual relationships, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination..
End of debate..
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Law and how to follow them...
1
Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations..
A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians..
Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2..
I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7
In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3..
I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev 15:19-24
The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense..
4..
When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev 1:9 The problem is with my neighbors.. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them..
Should I smite them?
5..
I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath.. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death.. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6..
A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree..
Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
7..
Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight.. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses.. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8..
Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27
How should they die?
9..
I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10.
My uncle has a farm.. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend).. He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot..
Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole neighborhood together to stone them as per Lev24:10-16 Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev 20:14)
11..
I would like to take on a second wife and maybe a few concubines, if I can scrape enough money together.. Are you proposing an amendment to ban compulsory monogamy?
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus possess considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help..
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging, and that our constitution and laws ought to enforce it..
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(10 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, May 26th, 2008
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12:05 pm - Memorial Day, 2008
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If Memorial Day is about remembering our fallen military dead, why are all the videos I see today showing live soldiers?
Hint: Check #4
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, April 6th, 2008
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2:25 am
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For all the coverage this week of Senator John McCain's background, there are some important things you won't learn about him from the TV networks. His carefully crafted positive image relies on people not knowing this stuff—and you might be surprised by some of it.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
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6:34 pm
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Oh yeah, we're on the right course economically.
In fact, the economy is doing swimmingly.
If you define "swimming" as being nose-deep in a fetid swamp.
I am in a position where I might need to be buying some latex stuff, both sheet and molded. And of course the only good latex sources are in the UK. And of course the currency exchange rate with the UK (okay, let's face it, the rest of the planet) sucks sweaty donkey balls right now.
Can we just fire the Shrub Junta and get somebody with a minimum of economic savvy in the Oval Office right the fuck now please? Okay, let's specify a little better, since Teh Gawds tend to give us what we ask for: Somebody with at least a minimal grasp of political and economic reality, who doesn't feel like the rest of the world is our toilet paper, and won't declare war in a fit of pique and then feel bad about it a week later and need to apologize for letting the missiles fly because they were having a bad day and didn't really consider the consequences of their actions but they would really like to be best buddies now? By this I mean Not McCain.
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, March 20th, 2008
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2:37 pm
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Hey, kids-
If you need me to know about something tomorrow, hit me up by email.
Thursday, March 20, 5:00 PM -- San Francisco; Los Angeles, ARIZONA
For one day, make no posts. Make no comments. Let there be NO new content added to LJ.
SUP obviously does not realize that Basic users have given something of value to them, that it is content that drives the site.
So, for one 24-hour period, from midnight GMT to midnight GMT, let's see how many people we can get to pledge to contribute NO CONTENT.
This will create a permanent downward spike in the daily-posts statistics, a permanent reminder of the power of the userbase.
Who's with me, and what date shall it be?
This Friday, March 21, from midnight to midnight GMT.
The one-day content strike is on for this Friday, March 21, from midnight GMT to midnight GMT.
For 24 hours, we will not post or comment to LJ. Not in our own journals, not in communities. Not publicly, privately, or under friends-lock.
This is a protest that will have long-lasting effects, showing up forever in the daily posting statistics.
This is a protest that will not harm LJ in the long run, as leaving LJ might do.
This is a protest that will demonstrate the power of community, as all users unite to support Basic users and the concept of adfree space.
This is a protest that will educate the new owners that LJ is driven by user-created content.
How Can I Help?
DO post about this in your own LJ.
DO post and comment about it in appropriate communities.
DO remember that it's based on Greenwich Mean Time, which may not be your local time.
DO turn off LoudTwitter and your RSS feeds for 24 hours.
DO feel free to friend me for updates, and defriend when the strike is over.
DON'T forget to get permission from community mods before making an off-topic post or comment about the strike.
DON'T be spammy with your posts or comments about the strike.
DON'T forget to turn your LoudTwitter and RSS feeds back on when the strike is over.
The 24-hour strike will begin at the following times for the following locations:
Thursday, March 20, 2:00 PM -- Honolulu
Thursday, March 20, 4:00 PM -- Anchorage
Thursday, March 20, 5:00 PM -- San Francisco; Los Angeles
Thursday, March 20, 6:00 PM -- Mexico City; Denver
Thursday, March 20, 7:00 PM -- Chicago
Thursday, March 20, 8:00 PM -- Montreal; New York
Thursday, March 20, 9:00 PM -- Buenos Aires
Midnight -- London
Friday, March 21, 1:00 AM -- Paris
Friday, March 21, 2:00 AM -- Istanbul
Friday, March 21, 3:00 AM -- Moscow
Friday, March 21, 4:00 AM -- Dubai
Friday, March 21, 5:00 AM -- Islamabad
Friday, March 21, 6:00 AM -- Bangladesh
Friday, March 21, 7:00 AM -- Bangkok
Friday, March 21, 8:00 AM -- Singapore
Friday, March 21, 9:00 AM -- Tokyo
Friday, March 21, 10:00 AM -- Brisbane
Friday, March 21, 11:00 AM -- Sydney
Friday, March 21, 12 Noon -- Suva
SUP is the Russian company that bought LJ a few months back.
One of the first things they promised was that they would continue to have basic accounts, as well as the Paid and Plus accounts.
However, last week they announced that as of RIGHT NOW, Basic accounts were gone and everyone on Basic would automatically be "upgraded" to a Plus account, with all the heaping tasty servings of advertising you could possibly want.
People with Basic accounts are justifiably pissed, people with Paid, Early Adopter, and Permanent accounts are wondering when the bullshit-hose is going to get turned on them, and people are *leavin'*.
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, March 17th, 2008
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11:19 am
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Nabbed from elsewhere:
"A CALL OUT TO WOMEN VOTERS: A History You Should Know About This is the story of our Grandmothers, and Great-grandmothers, as theylived only 90 years ago. It was not until 1920 that women were grantedthe right to go to the polls and vote.
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The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night,they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs with their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women. Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the wardenat the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one ofthe leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press. So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because-- why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient. 'What would those women think of the way I use--or don't use-- my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote,'' she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.' I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include this in their curriculum. I want it known anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order. It is jarring to know Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to know the doctor refused. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.' Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party-just vote. History is being made!" ************************* And I know that the Limbaughciles think that women should just stay at home and fold laundry and pump out babies. I know of someone who has stated that women are too emotional to be trusted with the vote. All I'm gonna say is, if utter rationality and total moral clarity were required as a pre-condition to voting... the polls could close early. Like .5 seconds after they open. There ISN'T anyone that DESERVES the right to vote based on their complete and dispassionate logic and encyclopedic knowledge of all the issues and candidates. If you think you have those qualities, you're dangerously deluded. So we have to muddle through with universal suffrage, giving *everyone* a voice, since the historical record shows that the last people you want to give carte blanche to are the people who ask you to stop thinking and let them do all your thinking for you.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, February 17th, 2008
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10:02 am
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I think I need to post a video of Puffy taking a nap or Bug eating dinner on Myspace, then see how many responses are posted saying that I'm abusing them somehow.
Seriously. It's kinda mind-boggling. Look at the comments for any video on Myspace showing an animal, and see how many of them consist of "OMG ur abusing teh animal!!!1" when they're doing something completely natural.
OMG! Teh bird is taking a bath! it is abise!
OMG Teh cat is angry cuz it is in a cage in a strenge plase it am abuse OMG!
There is obviously NOT a minimum IQ requirement for the inarnetz.
Browsing Myspace is akin to attending the talent show at the Short Bus academy.
Some of these people are so stupid, I suspect they must have a second brain in their ass like a brontosaurus to allow them to walk.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, January 25th, 2008
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2:24 pm
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Did some housecleaning of my journal.
Added a couple, deleted a bunch.
Most of the deletions were people who unfriended me an age agone, or whose journal had been deleted and were way past the 30-day mark.
If you were deleted and were wondering why, you're free to ask or appeal. Otherwise, vaya con dios, best wishes, and bon voyage.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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