Awesomeness via XKCD.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Not Cool
Target is making fun of homemade Halloween costumes. Way to alienate your customer base!
We're not going out trick-or-treating, since Christopher's not old enough to eat candy. But we're going to dress up to hand the candy out! He might be going as a biker - I'd have an excuse to buy him a teeny-tiny leather jacket for winter and to try to do his curls into a duck's ass. Or, more likely, he'll wear the awesome Superman onesie I got him over the summer with some blue tights and maybe even red boots. Doesn't he just look like a baby superman with the dark curly hair and those blue eyes? Either way, I'm going with real clothes and not some plastic suit, thanks.
We're not going out trick-or-treating, since Christopher's not old enough to eat candy. But we're going to dress up to hand the candy out! He might be going as a biker - I'd have an excuse to buy him a teeny-tiny leather jacket for winter and to try to do his curls into a duck's ass. Or, more likely, he'll wear the awesome Superman onesie I got him over the summer with some blue tights and maybe even red boots. Doesn't he just look like a baby superman with the dark curly hair and those blue eyes? Either way, I'm going with real clothes and not some plastic suit, thanks.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Better Dialogue, Less Insanity
I was going to embed the very humorous ad Christine O'Donnell put out denying her alleged witchery. But hell with it, I'm skipping straight to the Holy Grail.
Perspective
Yesterday we got another political flyer on our door, this time "comparing" the Republican and Democratic candidates for the state house in a way totally skewed in favor of the sender (go figure):
D: Jesus, they both look young.
Me: I'm sorry, honey. You want me to tell those kids to stay out of our yard?
D: Jesus, they both look young.
Me: I'm sorry, honey. You want me to tell those kids to stay out of our yard?
Monday, October 04, 2010
Stupid
Why, oh why, do people believe that their religious views have any bearing whatsoever on what our civil code should encompass? Why do they fail to comprehend that any sort of theocracy is a very bad idea, particularly to those citizens who don't practice your faith? Do they not understand that if we codify one faith, we can also codify another? How about the idea that another religion might eventually outnumber your own and you may find yourself utterly f*cked?
If you want to tell people about your religion, fine. Go out on a street corner and preach away. Invite them to church or temple or mosque. Give out religious literature,candies or trinkets. But don't be so very stupid as to try to make any of its tenets the law of the land, or to make indoctrination in school or prayer to any deity mandatory. And I really don't care what religious or historical figure you believe thought it was a good idea. You're either wrong about what you think they thought, or they were wrong in thinking it.
If you want to tell people about your religion, fine. Go out on a street corner and preach away. Invite them to church or temple or mosque. Give out religious literature,candies or trinkets. But don't be so very stupid as to try to make any of its tenets the law of the land, or to make indoctrination in school or prayer to any deity mandatory. And I really don't care what religious or historical figure you believe thought it was a good idea. You're either wrong about what you think they thought, or they were wrong in thinking it.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Hide and Seek
Yard signs cropping up everywhere, politicians dominating the news cycle - it's that time again. While I haven't actually been posting all that much here, I have been commenting on news sites and driving myself crazy keeping up with the latest political madness.
But there's a new trend that I find by far the most annoying: facebook proselytizing. See, I use facebook mostly to keep up with old friends and get invites to get-togethers. I read blogs or websites for my news and debates. I don't like crossing the streams, which is why I de-linked the blog from FB. But some of my friends are more, erm, enthusiastic in their political views. And apparently think that they should share all kinds of links, many of which make my stomach do flip-flops with their inaccuracy.
To be fair, I've commented on a few of these. Usually the ones I agree with, and usually something benign. But in general, I'm vehemently against politics on my wall and I'm getting more and more annoyed with it. In my opinion, it's rather like inviting someone over to your house for a dinner party and springing an Amway pitch on them. Particularly if the friend reading it diverges from your core beliefs. I mean, would you walk up to some friend in the street and start trying to convert them to your religion?
This is made worse, in my opinion, by the way that politics basically IS becoming a religion to many people. Questioning the primary tenets of the party platform is heresy. Those who disagree are evil and should leave the country immediately. It's a cultural war for them. For me, this is doubly so because I believe in balance so everybody hates me. A balance of free enterprise with reasonable regulations and social responsibilty will often work to maximize benefits for all. The question then is only one of what would be best privatized and what would be best handled publically, and which party is willing to do what. Neither approach is inherently good or inherently bad. Neither is essentially "American" or "Unamerican." None of it is worth vilifying the other side or getting angry about. It's just what works. Unfortunately, I see that level of civility in discourse as almost nonexistant in today's rhetoric. I see lots of spin and very few facts. I see lots of anger and very little listening.
Which brings me back to the facebook posts. If you're going to put up something that purports to fact-check the other side while ignoring your own side's many transgressions, or put up partisan posts that are openly antagonistic, it annoys me. Perhaps one should think before posting: would this offend my (conservative/liberal/religious/atheist) friends? Would I walk up to them on the street and say it to them, using this language and this tone? I'm not saying you need to be silent, just polite. These are your friends, after all. If you wouldn't say it to them on the street, don't put it on their wall.
Meanwhile, I'm making ample use of the HIDE button until after the elections.
But there's a new trend that I find by far the most annoying: facebook proselytizing. See, I use facebook mostly to keep up with old friends and get invites to get-togethers. I read blogs or websites for my news and debates. I don't like crossing the streams, which is why I de-linked the blog from FB. But some of my friends are more, erm, enthusiastic in their political views. And apparently think that they should share all kinds of links, many of which make my stomach do flip-flops with their inaccuracy.
To be fair, I've commented on a few of these. Usually the ones I agree with, and usually something benign. But in general, I'm vehemently against politics on my wall and I'm getting more and more annoyed with it. In my opinion, it's rather like inviting someone over to your house for a dinner party and springing an Amway pitch on them. Particularly if the friend reading it diverges from your core beliefs. I mean, would you walk up to some friend in the street and start trying to convert them to your religion?
This is made worse, in my opinion, by the way that politics basically IS becoming a religion to many people. Questioning the primary tenets of the party platform is heresy. Those who disagree are evil and should leave the country immediately. It's a cultural war for them. For me, this is doubly so because I believe in balance so everybody hates me. A balance of free enterprise with reasonable regulations and social responsibilty will often work to maximize benefits for all. The question then is only one of what would be best privatized and what would be best handled publically, and which party is willing to do what. Neither approach is inherently good or inherently bad. Neither is essentially "American" or "Unamerican." None of it is worth vilifying the other side or getting angry about. It's just what works. Unfortunately, I see that level of civility in discourse as almost nonexistant in today's rhetoric. I see lots of spin and very few facts. I see lots of anger and very little listening.
Which brings me back to the facebook posts. If you're going to put up something that purports to fact-check the other side while ignoring your own side's many transgressions, or put up partisan posts that are openly antagonistic, it annoys me. Perhaps one should think before posting: would this offend my (conservative/liberal/religious/atheist) friends? Would I walk up to them on the street and say it to them, using this language and this tone? I'm not saying you need to be silent, just polite. These are your friends, after all. If you wouldn't say it to them on the street, don't put it on their wall.
Meanwhile, I'm making ample use of the HIDE button until after the elections.
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