Observational Shorts:

These are the types of things that run through my mind on a daily basis. Particularly as reactions to things I see, hear, or read as I go about my day.

Social Observations:
On Feminism:

Telling a woman of sound mind and free will what she can or cannot do with her able body is counter intuitive to the feminist movement, particularly with regards to the sexual liberation aspect of the movement.

Insisting that a woman cover her body out of modesty, and telling her to cover her body so she we won't be "objectified" nets the same result: A bunch of women running around under mounds of clothing so that she becomes ashamed of her body and sexuality because someone, somewhere, said she should.

On Alien Astronauts:

Skeptics who smarmily and smugly dismiss the hypothesis of intelligent life on another planet with the technology to travel in space seem to be forgetting their commonly shared belief that quasi-intelligent life forms with the ability and desire for space travel evolved from the primordial ooze right here, on Earth. Clearly if it can happen here, it can happen somewhere else, too. Also dismissing the notion that they may be smarter than us is equally damning, because really, how hard is it to outsmart most people on the planet? Not very.

On American Carnivores:

If humans were meant to consume as much meat as the average "Red Blooded" American claims, than the carnivorous Neanderthal would have out lived the Omnivorous Cro magnon. And your ass wouldn't take up two whole seats.

On Vegans:

Not contributing to abusive factory farming is a noble cause, however I guarantee you that the moment you feel a hunger pain after being stranded in a fairly desolate area, not only would you consume meat, but your co-survivors might start looking tasty, too.

On Celebutards:

Just a word of advice, be preemptive and go to rehab before you flash the world, puke on the paparazzi, or lose custody of your kids. Prevention is key!

Political Observations:
On Propaganda:

Political, social, religious; there are more than enough reasons to oppose what is happening in the world without having to make up false facts and wild accusations about whatever it is you oppose. So stop it.

On (The New) Republican Party:

They want limited government regarding labor, religion, free speech and guns so long as you don't try to unionize, practice any religion other than Christianity, say something they don't want to hear, all while having legal access to a gun, because then you're an anti-American communist terrorist. And if you're gay, forget it, they want the government to swoop into your bedroom and deport you from their peaceful, gun-toting, gay-bashing, Christian Country.

On Democrats:

Compromise will never get you more than half-way to your intended goal. Particularly when the other team is playing by a different set of rules.

On libertarians:

Libertarianism, otherwise known as what Republicanism used to be.

On Anarchism

It is extremely difficult for a group based on decentralization to get organized enough to initiate the change they want to create.

On Anarcho-Capitalism:

One question, If you have a capitalist economy with no government, laws, economic regulations or central planning, who prints and distributes the currency?

On Independents:

Here's a thought, if you got your apathetic asses off the proverbial fence you could potentially release the two party strangle-hold of incompetence on this country by forming a viable third party.

On "Free Range" Capitalism:

If competition keeps companies operating in a fair, ethical way, then why do the most competitive companies have their products made by foreign children in foreign sweatshops while they build their pseudo-monopolies at home?

If companies always pay fair market wages, why do they complain about a minimum wage standard? It couldn't be because they'd like to pay their employees less than a living wage, could it?

Religious Observations:
On Creationism:

Why does the bible depict Adam and Eve as modern day humans when we know the first humans to walk the Earth were nothing like modern day humans? Were Neanderthals and Cro magnons just a test run?

Why doesn't the bible tell us how, when, and why God created the dinosaurs? Furthermore if the Earth is only 6,000 years old, how on Earth would humans not only survive living simultaneously with dinosaurs, but also survive whatever made them extinct?

Scientific discoveries, laws, and theories are unreliable, untrustworthy, atheism promoting works with a strong anti-God bias, unless said scientific discovery might prove a story, person, timeline or event from the bible to be at least remotely plausible. Then it becomes irrefutable fact that proves creationsim.

On Intelligent Design:

If we were designed by an intelligent creator who gave everything a purpose and thought everything through, how do you explain birds with wings who can't fly? Why do humans have organs for urination, defecation, and procreation all within two inches of each other, thus promoting bacterial infections by the simple and necessary act of trying to propagate the species? That doesn't seem very intelligent to me...

Explain the platypus.

On Christianity:

If more Christians practiced what Jesus preached, the world would be a much nicer place to live in. Converting people would also be easier, too.

On Ultra-Right Leaning Conservative Christians:

Jesus preached that if you surrender your will and self completely to one, ultimate, absolute authority figure who tells you exactly what you can and cannot do at any given time in his kingdom then you will be rewarded with a Utopian Earth, with a complete lack of death, pain, struggle, violence, poverty and you will always get whatever you need just by asking the higher authority you have sworn your allegiance to. You will just have to face the fact that Jesus was a Communist.

On Extreme Religions and Cults:

Does it worry anyone else that a person's increased faith in an extreme religion or cult is directly proportionate to the amount of guns they hoard?

On Judaism:

American Jews are rather quiet and reserved, and I have yet to work up the breasticular fortitude to ask them questions like: What do you really think about Christianity? How do you know you're God's chosen people? Why do you wear those curly-q sideburns?

On Paganism and Witchcraft:

Watching "The Craft" and "Charmed" Until your eyes bleed does not make you a Pagan or a Witch. And no, you can't orb.

On Buddhism:

Why are the majority of American Buddhists that I've met either very weird, or very angry?

No, doing yoga and tai-chi does not make you a Buddhist.

I need to add a few.
Parental Observations:

On Your Child's Right To Privacy:

It is much harder to get drunk, high, pregnant, or build a bomb in your basement when your parents are constantly crawling up your ass.

Perhaps if parents invaded their child's privacy more often, fewer kids would shoot their schoolmates during class.

Hard Work VS Delgation of Responsibilities.

After reading an article today over at MSNBC about a 19 year old college student who is seeking to hire his own personal assistant to do his laundry, and drive him to and from classes, I got to thinking. The more I thought about it, the more disgusted I became with the whole idea of it. Now, a lot of the reactions to it echoed a bit of resentment towards a kid who can't be bothered to do everyday tasks in the vein of "wealthy spoiled brat" insults. However I wasn't bothered by it because he could afford to do so, but rather I was more disturbed by the fact that people were praising him for his entrepreneurial skills and a lot of "Good for him!" responses.

And not because I feel that he is being lazy, which I do. And not because I feel he is incapable, unable, or unwilling to learn how to properly budget his own time as an intro into adulthood. Not because I feel that he is going to get a very rude awakening when he gets a real job, where his bosses expect him to multi-task for them for eighty hours a week, and not being able to delegate his work tasks to a hired assistant. And finally not because I feel that this kid gave up at the first sign that he might break a sweat and couldn't handle it, nor has he even earned the right to be respected as a well-adjusted adult. And not because I feel that maturity and responsibility must be earned and not bought.

No, it's because I feel that failing to experience the struggle and the reward of hard work without the help of someone else actually creates a lack of compassion, empathy, and understanding for the millions of people in this world who must do all of their own work and chores, without help because they cannot afford to hire a personal assistant to do it for them.

I was reminded, almost instantly of a constant conversation - or argument rather - between a group of mothers about the struggles of working out of the home, working from home, and staying at home with regards to balancing that life, and motherhood with all of the domestic responsibilities that accompany it. There was one woman who simply could not comprehend why all of the other women were complaining about how tired and stressful it felt to balance motherhood and careers, and why some women actually chose to drop out of the work force because of that stress. She would say things like "I have a career, a family, and I can do it. It's not that hard, What's wrong with you people?" As well as things like "You are all just lazy whiners. Get a job, it's not that hard to balance motherhood and a career."

Of course, she finally blurted out that she had a full-time maid and a live-in nanny. She finally admitted that her responsibilities included going to work, and playing with her kids when she got home. The maid did all of the domestic work, including the laundry and grocery shopping, preparation of meals, etc... and he Nanny took care of all of the children's needs. And she still simply could not relate to the rest of us - not even after being lambasted with comments like "Well sure it's easy when you have a maid and a nanny." And "Yes, it's rather easy to be a career woman and a mother when you don't actually have to do the work yourself."

And that, right there, is the problem. She had been paying other people to do her "mundane" work for so long that she simply couldn't understand what was wrong with the rest of us. She also couldn't understand why we would be proud to be able to accomplish so much on our own, when "so much" included rearing our children, and washing our own clothes. She could understand the pride associated with doing well at work, but not at home, because she did not understand just how hard it really can be.

And so this 19 year old kid is starting his adult life off, never knowing what it feels like to work hard, to struggle, and to be proud that you did something without the help of someone else. He will never be able to understand what his future employees are going through when they ask for some time off to take care of personal matters, children, or loved ones. He will never understand that having to work as much as most of us do, plus having to work as hard as we do at home will exhaust us.

We will have yet another cold-hearted corporate shark out there, completely oblivious to the realities that many of us face every day. He will not know what "hard work" actually is, because he will delegate anything he doesn't want to do to some poor schmuck willing to make a few bucks doing it, because he is struggling to make ends meet, feed his family, work several jobs, all while washing his own clothes. And when his hired schmuck needs a day off, he will look at him and think "What's wrong with you, this isn't so hard to do..." while completely missing the irony of him not being able to simultaneously handle his own job and his private responsibilities.

So the cycle of abuse continues - and people are out there cheering it on. Fan-freaking-tastic.

And by the way, I feel that I should add a casual observation I came to last night after posting this. If this student's time is so precious that it's better used on things not involving mundane personal responsibility, then why is it that he seems to think that other students, with full class loads, homework, part time jobs, friends or family they'd like to see, and their own laundry to wash has more than enough time to take care of him as well as all of their other responsibilities? Wouldn't their time also be better spent studying rather than driving him to and from class? His time is better spent studying, but their time is better spent pampering him?

What does that tell you about how he sees himself and his importance versus how he views other people's time and importance?

Edit - the link at the top is no longer available - here is a link to the cached version of the story: MSNBC

"Give me your son, Ma'am" TSA agents took a woman's son from her.

Over at "Bottle's up" Nic, the author, recounts her horrifying encounter with TSA agents at the airport, where they took her son from her - even if only briefly - over a pacifier clip. Please go read her story, and give her some support.

Both mother and child are safe at home, now.

From the post:

My worst nightmare took place yesterday. Worse than events that have taken place and that I have survived in my short 28 years of living. Worse than my wildest of dreams could conjure.

My son was taken from me.

Taken.

My son was taken from me by the TSA agents at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport yesterday.

What On Earth is Up With Kid's Cartoons?

Now, this is more of a personal rant rather than a political one, but I do think that the observation of the media kid's are being drowned in today says something about society in general. So here goes...

Have you watched the plethora of cartoons being touted as "educational" lately? Now, back in the day cartoons were for fun. No one mistook Tom and Jerry or Wile E Coyote for some sort of life instructional, unless you wanted to be sure to avoid running off the side of a cliff or how to make a body imprint as you ran through a wall. The signs were neat, too. But they were not educational, and they did not run 24 hours a day every day. You got them on Saturday morning, and then you went out to play.

Today we have entire channels devoted only to "children's educational cartoons" and I have to say after watching some of these cartoons, I'm pretty sure my IQ actually dropped a point.

A few cartoons that irk me to no end include:

"Wonder Pets". These little creatures talk "baby talk", which drives me straight up a wall. I mean, what is beneficial about constantly hearing "Ohw No! Dis is sewious!". ARGH! That causes linguistic backsliding, not learning enhancement! It's a butchery of the language! Further more the characters are animals, who can speak, break out of their cages at will, and rescue other animals but fail at figuring out the small problems they face. They can't rescue a baby raccoon from a garbage can, but they can build a working helicopter from recycled paper towel tubes and coat hangers.

Really? What kind of message does that send? How is that educational?

"Special Agent Oso". This one is at the top of my list of annoying cartoons. I have never seen a dumber bear or group of characters in my entire life. Again, with the inability to figure out the simplest of things, and needing step by step hand held instructions on things like...how to put lettuce in a bowl, or how to ride a carousel horse. Kids are much, much smarter than the producers give them credit for, obviously. Talk about dumbed down....

"Wow Wow Wubzy." Do I even have to say it? "Wubzy" there, I said it. (God, really?) With characters who are supposed to be children, who apparently have no parents, living in some digital world and play games like "kickity-kick ball", no problem solving skills of their own, and the uber sugary sweet reward for not actually doing anything.

"Yo Gabba Gabba". What kind of tripped out person created that show? Whatever drugs they're on, they must be good. I see nothing "educational" about that one. Except maybe a lesson in why one shouldn't do drugs.

Did I mention that none of these cartoons deal with anything a kid might actually have to deal with in real life? Such as losing a game, hurting their knee, being naughty, winning a game (while others lose), having to deal with siblings, friends, pressure, day care, parents, the whole nine - these shows exist in some kind of sick parallel universe where kids are dumber than a box of rocks, and no one's feelings ever get hurt.

The next big cartoon will probably having the characters shitting out rainbows and vomiting butterflies.

Calling shows like this "educational" is like adding vitamin C to sugar pops and calling it "healthy".

There a few cartoons I do like, however.

"Calliou". It's actually a pretty good cartoon, although a little sugary, it deals with a kid, who speaks like a 4 year old actually speaks (NO baby talk!) who has to deal with actual life issues. Things like daycare and preschool, working parents, a little sister, a pet and it's responsibilities, friends, and winning and losing games gracefully. The characters have tantrums, experience the full array of emotions, and actually do real problem solving on the level of a preschooler. Some say it's boring, but for a toddler and preschooler, it's like watching something they can actually relate to.

"Arthur". It's a great cartoon for older kids. Again, it deals with kids experiencing things real kids experience. They have fun, they get into trouble, the parents are ever present as they are in real life, homework, school yard bullies, etc and so forth.

But I simply cannot stand all of these terrible, horrible, babyish, dumbed down, huggy bear, kissy face, tip-toe-through-the-tulips crap cartoons!

And I do think it speaks to the mindset of society at the moment. We wonder why our kids are doing poorly in school, have the parents stopped to see what their kids are watching, and have been watching constantly? And who thought these things up? The producers no doubt claim to be "educational specialists" who can design programs to enhance children's learning.

If they're planning the school curriculum too, we are in deep shit.

And...that's my rant for today....