Ironic memes, conversation killers, and stochastic terrorists

Part of the irony here (meme below) is that the criticism expressed by the meme is generally the kind of criticism used to stifle conversation.  It's the kind of criticism that screams "You're an idiot, you're argument is invalid, I don't have to listen to you, so I win!" 

The quote is generally the kind used by left-wingers to emphasize the point that education is important for empowering the people.  It emphasizes that the actions of tyrants is to destroy education - exactly, I will point out, what the right-wing have been doing since the time of Sainted President Reagan. Hell, Reagan was pretty much a one-man war on education, and George W. Bush upped the ante in the War on the Poor (like he did on so many things) with his "No Child Left Unscrewed" program.

So,

• we have the irony that a wonderful quote, admonishing people to be educated as defense against The Tyrant, is attributed to a person possibly even more vile and sick than Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly (stochatic terrorists that they are). 

• We have the irony that the guy pointing this out - being a smugass that he is - acting out the role of The Tyrant by being a conversation-stifling mocking jerk, as measured by the yardstick that his remark adds nothing at all to the conversation, but instead brings the conversation to a grinding halt and leaves a bad taste in the mouth of anyone not feeling like a selfish smugass prig (e.g. the rejoinder writer).

The morale of the tale: don't be a jerk. Conversation is important. The ability to be respectful while talking with someone is a sign of maturity. It is not a sign of weakness. Being respectful does not mean agreeing - there are many ways to respectfully disagree, and adults are very good at it.

Children - and jerks and tyrants bent on stopping conversation - confuse (or conflate) the argument with the person presenting it, thus making what should be a discussion about ideas into mere personal attacks.

Personal attacks - character assassination - are not valid ways to win an argument. They are merely ways to reveal you are too stupid to have an argument; that you can't win, so you try to undermine your foe instead. It's the post-pubescent verson of "Yeah, well you're a poopy-head!"

So, next time you hear someone like Rush Limbaugh, or Bill O'Reilly say "She's a whore and wants to get paid to have sex!" remember he's really just saying "I'm too stupid to refute her discussion points like a grown-up, so she's a poopy-head!"

Theological Thursday - Hope and Religion

"Religion."

Few things evoke so much passion as that word. Not even "sex" or "guns" or "gummit" evokes such passions as "religion."

Largely because people are Stupid.

("Stupid" being a natural force and/or a willful state of mind, while "stupid" is merely a problem of genetics or maybe the result of an injury.)

Religion can be broken down into two components: Faith and Dogma. Most people don't realize this composition, and even if someone explained to them that there is a difference, they'd still muddle it all up, and think that Faith and Dogma are the same thing, which they aren't.

So, [Religion = (Faith + Dogma)] AND [Faith ≠ Dogma].

(No, I'm not trying to use proper Logic symbology, I'm just trying to make clear my argument here by using symbols to differentiate the items.) 

Faith is the willingness to believe in that which cannot be proven, nor can it necessarily be sensed. Often it can be experienced, but that remains fuzzy, non-quantifiable, and non-reproducible.  (If it can be reproduced, then it can be quantified, and therefore does not require faith, since it can be proven or disproven, even if it cannot also be understood.)

Dogma is the proscription and checklist for how things are to be done; the Code of Conduct, if you will.  Dogma is what gets people into trouble. Dogma is what lets elitist bastards control the uneducated and ignorant (or maybe "hopeful" and "trusting") masses.

The greedElitist Opportunistic Pigs of the world have, throughout history, used Faith as the hook to pull people into Dogma.  "Your faith is weak unless you do the proper actions!"

So, the important thing is that we all get better educated, and learn to ask the question "Does That Even Make Sense?" so that we can separate the value of belief and hope from the bullshit of being hauled around by the nose and having our emotions and beliefs jerked around by dickwads that want to hurt us (or worse, get us to hurt ourselves).

She's not a bitch, if the real problem is you're being a dickwad

So, this woman (whom shall remain anonymous, lest the trolls decide she should be raped) wrote on her Facebook page

"At the concert I went to last night a man called me a 'bitch.' Not only to my face, but to his friends, and everyone else standing around him. He then proceeded to mock the way I was standing and how I looked. All because I asked him not to touch me after he purposely touched my hands and my jewelry. I even said please. Sometimes you can't win. I know much much worse things that have happened to my friends. Please, if you notice someone harassing a woman, ask them to stop. If you laugh along or even just say nothing, the perpetrator can take that as a sign that what he's doing is okay. I just wanted to enjoy the concert."

Okay, so here's the deal:  The Little Man who couldn't stop touching this woman was being a dickwad. This woman was not being a "bitch" for asking him to stop touching her. He had no right, nor privilege to be touching her. He had no right, nor privilege to be touching anyone.  By touching her, he violated her personal space. Hell, he was touching her jewelry, so she could have hauled off and punched him in the face and said "I felt threatened and concerned he was going to steal my jewelry."

My God, this woman is being unreasonably reasonable. She should not have to be reasonable about this. He was the violator. He was being a dick, and then decided to be a bigger dick by claiming victimization for not getting his way. I'm going to bet he was white. This reeks of "white man privilege." I bet this guy idolizes Rush Limbaugh, the ultimate perpetrator of "poor white man" bullshit.

NJ Governor Leads Charge in Fear Mongering. Again.

NJ Governor Leads Charge in Fear Mongering. Again. How the Hell does this guy keep getting elected??

In the age before Diebold Papertrail-less voting machines, with all their proven "bugs," and in the age before Anonymous explained why class warfare monach Karl Rove had his now infamous meltdown on Fox News when Governor Romney didn't magically win the election the same way his boy President Bush did, and in an age before chronic voter suppression disguised as "saving money" and "stopping the bad people from voting," I would have said "more people vote for him."

But, we don't live in that naive, innocent, and intended-by-the-Constitution age anymore, do we?

So, cynical bitch that I am, I am forced to take the heartbreakingly unpatriotic-yet-reasonable stance that Christie retains possession of the Governor's office through deceit, trickery, and graft, in addition to being able to spend more money than his opponents (well, being able to have more money spent on his behalf thanks to the Fascist Fuck-America Citizens United legal case rammed down our throats by the GOP-appointed judges on the Supreme Court).

Anti-Troll - self-righteousness

"I'm okay if you want to get all self-righteous on me. Just check and make sure your little three-legged pedestal isn't missing a fourth leg, before you do." 

- Icarus Loofem, Dec. 2012

J Kovach, Artist once called me the "Anti-Troll." I took that both as high compliment and serious responsibility. I believe she meant it in the context that I can be very generous when using my keen mind and insightful wit when paying compliments, thus boosting the self-esteem of those around me by reminding them of their good traits, and reminding them that people do notice, and do care.

I also took it to mean that I'm good at chewing up Internet trolls. I guess it's not hard, since the average Internet troll fights with the verbal skills of a fifth grader. I mean, there were even a couple I had to put on life support by carrying their side of the argument against me. It was kind of sad, but I was in a mood, and got so annoyed when they just fell apart before I even got warmed up. 

I've been meaning for ages to publish some of my rules for dealing with Internet trolls, and so I'll consider this post as the introduction to "Icarus's Guide To Eating Trolls," or something. I never really did decide on a title. I'm open to suggestions :)

First tip, as my self-citation implies is: listen to your opponent and deconstruct his arguments in a clear, concise fashion. Actually cite your opponent. Yes, this is a core tactic of Internet trolls, but they deliberately misquote. You can control the conversation and metaphorically knock them on their butts by simply pulling apart their own arguments in a calm, concise fashion, thus exaggerating and contrasting their snotty pettiness they are trying to bait you with.

Anyway, it's starting to rain and I have to drag the dog inside. Leave me feedback on what I can do to clarify and refine my prose and explanation.

As a last remark, if you haven't ever heard of J Kovach, go check her out, and her artwork, too :)

Love you guys!

Cliven Bundy is everything you hate about America

First off, what a horrible name. We could say "Oh, it's not his fault that's what his parents called him," Except that it is his fault. He's way beyond old enough to have chosen a less creepy name for himself. He's all grown up. At some point he decided to embrace that creepy name and make it his own.

So, now that we have established he's a big boy, and can make his own decisions about how to conduct himself, and is responsible for his own actions, let's get to the heart of the matter.

Cliven Bundy is the ringleader who stole more than a million dollars from his neighbors, and community. This isn't open to debate. He stole from you, me, Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama, those Duck Dynasty guys, and even Mickey Mouse. Cliven Bundy is a freeloader and a thief.

Even worse, he is a freeloader and thief who is rich. This isn't open to debate. Poor people don't own any cows, let alone enough cows to steal a million dollars worth of grass from their neighbors.

Cliven Bundy is a rich freeloading thief who then acts put upon, and whines out a call for people to come and protect him from the bad men.

Poor naive sods answer this call, and rush to volunteer their aid to this wealthy freeloading thief, and do so at their own expense. Such that they tweet that they have lost their jobs and need assistance to care for their families - meaning rich white thief Cliven Bundy is not even paying them to protect him from the bad men.

Cliven Bundy is a rich white freeloading thief piece of shit excuse for a human being.

Cliven Bundy is not a patriot, not a hero, not anyone to admire, and certainly not someone worth pissing on your own family to help out.

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Why Bing has suddenly become my new favorite search engine...

I'm not above being bought by stroking my ego. :-)  I was looking at my blog stats, and tried to figure out what search string could possibly be bringing people to my blog.  Well, here you go.  Hurray for Bing! ;-) (Screenshot 25-Oct-2014)

Lord, grant me the strength to enlighten those who will listen, and ignore the rest, because I have better things to do

 

I'm anti-stupid.

 

Willful stupidity annoys me.  Willful ignorance annoys me. Those are two reasons I love science.  A critical and core tenant of science is:  test it, and revise it when found wrong.

 

A lot of willfully ignorant people like to tell themselves - and each other - that scientists make shit up.  Now, it's true that people who claim to be scientists make shit up, and it's true that people will claim to be scientists when given money, and make shit up and lie about it.

 

(Oh, Hell, people like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly make shit up all the time and lie about it, and they only pretend to be journalists instead of scientists, so it's not only science that is tainted by lying sacks of crap infiltrating their ranks in order to be rank.)

 

For example, there were a lot of people who claimed nicotine was healthy (it's one of the most toxic and most addictive substances ever), and they did it for money. But, under the core tenant of science to "correct what is wrong," these people don't qualify as scientists, and certainly the rest of scientific community called them out as liars and kicked them out of the club for lying.

 

Same with the "anti-vaxxers" and the "anti-climate change" pseudo-scientists, and the "a little chemical waste from strip mining won't hurt you" asshats are not scientists either. They're all liars, and the real scientists call them out on it.  (Which is why the liars scream louder, and pour a lot of money into dishonestly and unethically and immorally attempting character assassination on the scientists - sick, but true: there's more money in lying than there is in being honest.)

 

I think my favorite willfully stupid liars are the Creationists - these people are even more flimsy than the anti-climate change morons, because their entire argument consists of "yeah, well, Evolution has holes in it, so there!" (That's their argument, because when you press them on their "proof" it collapses like tissue paper under the weight of its own contradictions - ever read Genesis 1 and Genesis 2? Yeah, they contradict each other in the first two frickin' chapters.)

 

Modern Theories are tested, re-tested, checked, and validated and honed and refined until they work. In contrast, a Hypothesis can collapse and be rejected when found full of holes.  Well, it gets rejected by reasonable adults anyway. Children, liars, and the willfully stupid will cling to bad hypotheses and throw tantrums (or hurl aspersions) when you try to challenge their soft fuzzy cherished blankeys of belief.

 

Theory - a Hypothesis that has withstood rigorous testing, and been consistently demonstrated to address the available evidence in a reasonable and logical fashion.

 

Hypothesis - A "what if" speculation that needs testing.

 

So, any moron who says "Well, it's only a theory" is showing either ignorance of what the word "theory" means, or is showing willful and arrogant stupidity by rejecting demonstrated evidence and proof-of-concept in favor of whatever pet belief he is clinging to.

 

Stupidity annoys me.

 

On friends, cutlery, and taking on Life

My most awesome frentor just paid me this cherished compliment:

"Icarus, my lass, when Life said 'I challenge you to a knife fight,' your opening volley was to hurl the kitchen cutlery drawer, and your follow-through was a broadsword."

Damn right.  :)

I'm a fighter. I think long and hard about things, then I decide what I think is right (preferably after cutting away all the stupid), then I fight for it. I fight to make the world a better, happier, more loving - and above all SMARTER - place.

(Alas, that doesn't mean I'm any good at it, but it's important to keep making the effort! :-)

Religion is like alcohol: too much and you become too stupid to tolerate

Religion is one of my favorite topics, because I studied it at University. Few things bring out human stupidity like religion - it's a bit like alcohol: the more you swallow recklessly and carelessly, the more stupid you become, and the more you embarass yourself, and the less the relatives want to invite you to holiday dinner.

Theological Thursday: God In Schools - what a bloody selfish concept

Bumper Sticker -

"Q: Why does God allow violence in schools?

"A: Because God isn't allowed in schools."

Would that be Allah, Buddha, Shiva the Destroyer, Raven the Trickster, Odin the All-Father? Which "god" do we mean?

Oh, you mean the Christian God? Would that be:

• The God of Jeremiah Wright, who apparently hates white people? 
• The God of Pat Robertson who apparently hates black people? 
• The God of the Westboro Church who apparently hates everybody? 
• The God of the Childrens Crusade of AD 1212 who declared that only the pure of heart can defeat the infidels and thus tens of thousands of Christian children were marched off to war and slaughter and slavery? 
• Or maybe the God of the Old Testament who used mind control on the Pharaoh in order that there be seven plagues when one might have sufficed (not to be confused with using mind control to just set all the slaves free)? 
•  Or maybe the God of the new Testament who says that treating the poor and infirm like shit is the same as treating God himself like shit?

I'm asking, because it's just not clear. And, really, I've got to tell you that it only gets muddier when I realize the presumptive "Well, I'm not allowed in the school, so I don't care what happens to the people there; let the children be murdered." Really? Your god is a bit of a selfish "what have you done for me lately?" bastard, isn't he?

Or, maybe when it's all said and done, it's you - little narrow-minded, short-lived, self-righteous, mortal human with "children die, because God" stickers on your car - who has his head up his ass, and God just looks down and weeps for ALL of His Stupid Children.

Be brave: murder your child by NOT vaccinating

You have a statistically zero chance of getting seriously ill from a vaccine. No, really: all reports claiming it is higher than "not going to happen to you" have been proven as bullshit, rumor, innuendo, or people just confusing cause and effect by linking two unrelated events.

30,000 people in the United States alone die every year from the flu. That means you have about 30,000 chances to end up dead by not getting a flu vaccine shot. I wish I had such good odds of winning the lottery!

Fear is a powerful force. Uncertainty and Doubt are equally powerful. Says so right here.

If you love your children, get vaccinated. Get them vaccinated. Whooping cough is a horrible disease, and a horrible way to murder your child by not getting your child vaccinated.

Yeah, that's what I said: choose not to protect your child, then if your child gets sick and dies, you've as well as murdered your child. Congrats for wanting to make the best decisions, but you're responsible for making the bloody stupid ones, too.

My favorite line of argument is "you can't trust either the government or big pharma to tell the truth," because it totally fails the "Does That Even Fucking Make Sense??" test.

Let's look at it: in order for a "deadly" vaccine to stay on the market it has to

1) pass a shitload of researchers, all of whom have to be unethical,

2) pass a shitload of peer review studies, all of whom have to be unbelievably incompetent,

3) pass a bunch of corporate bean-pushers, who might very well be unethical, but not likely all, when it comes to human lives,

4) government regulators who can lose their jobs and go to jail if they let poison pass thru to the public,

5) the reality check of doctors giving medications to their patients, all of whom can get sued, lose their jobs, and go to jail for injecting toxins into people.

So, anyone who says "you can't trust them" is really saying "I prefer to cling to my ignorance, fear, and superstition, rather than put any effort into thinking things through like a reasonable human being."

Just get the damn vaccines and live a statistically longer, healthier life.

"I walked out on the President of the United States of America" - are you fucking kidding me??

People left the auditorium while POTUS was speaking - are you fucking kidding me?  Even if you don't like the man, have some respect for Your Country.

The President Of The United States Of America (POTUS) is the highest elected official in the land.  His actions shape the world. The Constitution spends an enormous amount of time defining this one office.

There is an entire building meant to house this one person and the retinue of office and machinery designed to support this one person.

And people walked out while he was speaking? Might as well piss on the Constitution. Might as well piss on America. Might as well piss on all the dead soldiers who bled so you could have the freedom to walk out on America's single most powerful person.

For fuck's sake people, wait five more minutes - show some respect for the Office. Show some respect for your country.  Your car will still be waiting for you when you wander out. The lines won't be any shorter.

And someday, when your children ask you "What was it like to see the President in person?" all you'll have to say is: "I don't know; I walked out on him."

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"Boys will be boys" means you agree to be butt-raped

Listen up boys, just as some other man has the right to ask your permission before shoving his dick up your ass, and you have the right to say "no," so you have the right to ask a woman her permission before you shove your dick in any part of her body and she has the right to say "no."

End of discussion, no confusion. "Boys will be boys" as an excuse for privilege to commit violence means you have just surrendered you ass to be butt-raped any time anyone feels like it.

Grow the fuck up and recognize the difference between a "right" and a "privilege" and realize that demanding rights for everyone is noble, and demanding privilege for yourself is childish and selfish.

It's a very fast and very slippery slope from "some humans, e.g. men, should have more rights than others, e.g. women" to "some humans, e.g. nobility, should have more rights than others, e.g. peasantry" or even the old chestnut "some humans, e.g. white people, should have more rights than others, e.g. everyone else." (*)

Your only hope is to get a brain, and adopt some enlightened self-interest and embrace the very simple concept that all humans are equal and have equal rights to equal opportunities, or before you know it, someone is going to strip you of your preciously held rights, and tell you it's because you're not really human.

And once you've been designated as "sub-human" or "less important," then the next step is having a dick shoved up your ass without your consent, and you're left to cry all by yourself, since you've already surrendered your legal rights to justice. Chew on that one next time you try to pooh-pooh something as "boys will be boys," since you could very well be the next victim of said "boys."

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(*) Here's a fun game to find out your own prejudices: read two of those sentences with the subjects reversed, to wit:

(1) "Some humans, e.g. women, should have more rights than others, e.g. men," and

(2) "Some humans, e.g. black people, should have more rights than others, e.g. white people."

If you're not experiencing an uncomfortable emotional response right now, you're either Jesus or lying to yourself. Fuck, those sentences even feel weird to me, and I wrote them to make a point. The point being that we've been programmed - and often selfishly adopted - the premise that inequality is the natural order.

When Ebola Makes It To Your City

I'll have to try to find the link, and then watch the video, but I saw a meme (with video) that was captioned:

"What to do when Ebola makes it to your city."

And I thought "Shit, guess we really ought to have pulled our heads from our asses and stopped this thing back when it was only killing people in Africa."

Note, there's dripping sarcasm here.

1. Why the fuck has this disease been allowed to kill thousands of people? We bloody well know how to stop epidemics, if only the resources had been mustered and provided to the peoples of Africa;
2. Why do we - here in the US - always have our heads up our ass when it comes to the reality that the world is a big place, and we - as Jesus said - have a responsibility to each other. "Am I my brother's keeper?" No, but he's still your brother, so suck it up and lend a hand when he's dying;
3. Sheer Enlightened Self-Interest ought to have motivated us to prevent this sucker from crossing the ocean and endangering more people. Also, viruses mutate, so bloody well better to find a treatment now before it turns into something worse and becomes a lot harder to stop.
4. We - meaning the asshats running the profit-machine known as "Big Pharma," actually - have incredible resources in terms of brainpower and equipment to shut down most viruses if we really try. I mean, we even have a vaccine against a type of cancer! Surely we could shut this sucker down.

Just as a final note, I'm hearing the fear-mongers in right-wing world chanting "October Surprise" and how the President and Center for Disease Control "failed to act," and "failed to protect Americans" and blah, blah, blah, be Very Afraid and Do-What-I-Say-And-Everything-Will-Be-Fine-(For-Me-Ha-Ha-Ha).

Well, guess what right-wing world: you reap what you have sown. YOU put the GOP in Congress, and YOUR GOP cut the CDC funding, therefore YOU are to blame for any "failings" of the CDC. Now, suck it up and accept responsibility like adults - instead of trying to point fingers like children - and figure out how to stop panicking and do something productive. (Hint: restore  Nixon-era taxes on the billionaires and re-fund the CDC and Keep America Safe.)

Billionaires Lose Big In Stock Crash - oh, boo-fucking-hoo

Billionaires Lose Big In Stock Crash

Oh, boo-fucking-hoo.

"Rich company founders and shareholders benefited from the market's rally to record highs in September, but its free fall this week has shaved billions from their fortunes, showing just how exposed today's rich have become to wild market swings."

Let's dissect this:

1) They're billionaires - they really aren't going to suffer by market fluctuations. Inconvenienced? Oh, sure. Suffer? Bite me. Suffering is trying to figure out if you can afford a one bedroom apartment - or any apartment - on $7.25 an hour, assuming you get full time, with benefits, so you're not having to worry about paying cash for a doctor visit if you get a cold that turns into a lung infection when you can't afford to pay the heating bill, because you're getting paid $7.25 an hour. Billionaires don't worry about which house they will sleep in tonight, since they own more than one house, and - these are Billionaires - they probably own a private jet to take them to said houses;

2) "Benefited from the market's rally in September" - meaning that in October, they're "losing" everything they "gained" in September. Let's remember the stock market is a fantasy land of numbers being pushed around, and does not in any way - ignore what the cokeheads say - reflect the real world in which the rest of us live. Note that I said reflect - the fantasy land of Wall Street definitely shits on us little people, so we suffer when they freak out thinking they "lost" $2bn when the reality is they never "owned" it in the first place - it's all money sex people. Making money by rubbing money together isn't really "producing" anything, it's just numbers. Numbers go up, numbers go down; you can't "lose" anything that didn't exist in the first place;

3) "Exposed" - exposed to what? The rain? Risk of losing a house? Losing their job if their car breaks down? They're fucking billionaires - if they risk losing "everything" because a set of investments moves numbers up and down, then they're morons for having exposed themselves so badly in the first place. If a Billionaire can't have a few hundred million as reserves against "market fluctuations" then the moron needs to give me the money, because I'll be sure I don't lose anything important when the money pimps are off having money sex.

Washington I-594 - keep your damn guns, this is about stopping criminals from getting new ones

Here is an excellent - and non-political - analysis of Washington State Initiative 594.

I saw a man this morning with a sign that read "Keep your guns! Vote No 594."

Okay, just so we're clear again: I'm not anti-gun; I'm anti-stupid.

I-594 does not take away your fucking guns.  Anyone who says "The government is coming for your guns" is an asshole, and quite possibly also paranoid and delusional.

"They're coming for your guns" doesn't pass the "Does That Even Fucking Make Sense" test.  It fails utterly. Even without the Holy Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, there is simply too much body of law, and too much practical bullshit in the way for anyone to pass enough laws to "take away your guns."

I-594 closes the "gun show loophole."  Right now, any fucknut can walk into a gun show and buy a gun. Yeah, that even means ME.  I got a lot of rage, do you really want me carrying a gun?

And the "Oh, you could get busted for handing someone a gun at the shooting range" is total bullshit. There is specifically an exclusion for that.  Go read the analysis.

Tell your friends to go read it.  Tell everyone you know, that this law doesn't hurt any sane person. It only hurts crazy people, criminals and selfish assholes.

And if someone gets in your face telling you it's unAmerican or the gummit is coming for your guns, or that Japanese guy said "guns behind every blade of grass" take a step back and ask yourself "Does That Even Make Sense?"

Scary thing is, the more I listen to these "pro-gun" people, the less they make sense, and the more they start to sound like paranoid delusionals with a hard-on for a handgun.

Ocean levels are rising, Climate Change is real, accept reality and start contributing to the solution

Global Warming, aka Global Climate Change, is Real. Ocean levels have changed radically since the Industrial Pollution (aka Industrial Revolution) began, and humans started changing the environment and climate in historically unprecedented ways (okay, the asteroid that killed thd dinosaurs was bigger, but wasn't man made, unless you want to say it was time travel).

If you're a Denier, then quit being a tit sticking your head in the sand and screaming "N'uh-uh!", and start accepting reality and start contributing to the solution.

That's the first step in Being An Adult - accepting the situation and deciding how to move forward and get on with life anyway. Standing around pretending things aren't real, or aren't changing, is what children do. And - as we all know - children are immature and throw tantrums, and annoy all us grown-up types who need to get work done in the Real World instead of the fantasy land of children and people who reject reality.

Monday the 13th - Aiiigh!

Happy Monday the 13th!

It's 10/13/2014, or 10/13/14 here in the United States (you know, the Center of the Universe) as I write this, which means 13-Oct-2014 or 13/10/2014 to most of the rest of the world (you unwashed heathens).

Global notational differences (and absurdist self-mockery about US self-importance) aside, it's Monday and it's the 13th! Aigh!

Monday the 13th is like the cranky grandmother to Friday the 13th, and she hasn't had her morning gin yet.

Monday the 13th is the mother of Tuesdays - yeah, all of them, which is why Tuesdays are so malicious.

And now you know! Be careful out there. You woke up this morning, which is good, but this morning is an evil omen all by itself!

It's all about that bass - I get it now!

My apologies Meghan Trainor (All About That Bass), because I know she was losing sleep over my earlier criticism of this song*, but that was bitching about the snatches of the song I would catch on the radio or overhear other people singing.

I finally took time to go watch the video on YouTube. OMG! It's a Public Service Announcement wrapped in Satire! And it's Good satire! Haha.

- Mocking pop music, which has been called "a drum beat with singing," by wearing the lampshade - "it's all about that bass, no treble";

- the double entendre - "bass" or "base" also meaning "booty" (and we could even claim it's really "B'ass" meaning "big ass" - okay, that's a stretch, but that's what opinionated deconstruction of metaphor is all about, right? - ha! );

- the colored-wig models remind me of a Nikki Minaj video, which is incongruous by itself, but then the faces they make at the end really make the mockery funnier;

- the big guy dancing and doing the splits was awesome and great juxtaposition (ditto when he blew off the skinny chick - ha!);

- the core lyrics just put it out there - boys like big butts and they can't deny - and say "Hey, girlfriend, be yourself and ignore the Katy Perry look-abitalike skinny model, and be comfortable with your body!";

Numerous studies have shown that while we are programmed to find the ultra-thin waif-like model attractive (and for some reason we do), men (and lesbians) actually prefer a more normal (i.e. "meaty") body type for sexual and romantic companionship.

So, Meghan, for your public service, I'm going to put you up on my altar next to Lzzy Hale and Kristi Simkins, and hope you make a huge fortune and keep making fun and satirical music. :)

* (no, she wasn't losing sleep, since she has no idea I exist, but the hyperbole of my self-importance is part of what makes me entertaining)

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Dare to be brave, dare to be selfish, dare to be stupid

It's voting cycle time, and I'm seeing the usual spate of stupid signs, and lies spread around.

Someone is putting up lawn signs that actually read "Be brave! Vote No on the Fire Levy!"

Okay, sorry, let's vote to take money away from firefighters? These are the 9/11 First Responders, remember? These are the people who - Heaven forbid your house should catch fire - will rush over to  to save your life, limb and property by PUTTING OUT THE FIRE!

Oh, or your neighbor's house fire. Or your elderly grandmother's house. Or rush the paramedics to your house to save your life if you drop the frozen turkey into boiling oil (hint: it explodes). Or, you know, SAVE LIVES.

So, "Be Brave!" - Be Selfish! Be Stupid! Vote "No" on the tiny little tax levy that pays these guys to train, train, risk their lives saving people, train and practice, and come save your life if you ever need them.

Let's be honest. These signs are probably being put up by don't-tax-my-giant-apartment-and-rental-properties people like our old pal Tim "fuck you little guy, I got mine" Eyman. No, seriously.

"Be brave" indeed.

Vote "Yes" for the fire levy and make sure someone is there to save the life of someone you care about, possibly even yourself.

rules for a popular blog: yeah, whatever - the Grand Experiment

I know there are rules and guidelines for creating a successful and popular blog (and especially a revenue-generating), and maybe someday I'll look them up.

Meanwhile, I think I'm going to experiment with "theme days."

Like, "Theological Thursday," where I will remark on theologicial things (for which, in truth, I am actually better qualified than most people).

And "Fictional Friday," where I'll write something related to fiction, story-telling, gaming, cosplay, whatever, whatever, which I'm at least as qualified to remark on as any other nerd out there :)

For now, every other day will be "reserved" for whatever bug is in my bonnet at the moment.  Hey, it's my blog, I can say whatever I damn well please, right?

#IAmIcarus

Sarah Palin is still a wanker, even all these years later

With every sentence out of her mouth Sarah Palin proves time and again she is a disingenuous wanker.

Let's be clear: I don't loathe Sarah Palin for being a Republican; I loathe Sarah Palin for being a total wanker. I don't call Ms Palin a wanker because she is Republican; I call her a disingenuous wanker because I have LISTENED TO THE WORDS COMING OUT OF HER MOUTH AND I HAVE PAID ATTENTION TO HER ACTIONS.

I call Ms Palin a wanker , because she is a loathsome, self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing, opportunistic pig who will throw anyone under the bus if doing so helps Sarah Palin.

Calling Sarah Palin a pig is an insult to pigs. At least pigs are willing to make contributions to their community.

It's all about the bass....because there's nothing else...

It's all about the bass, no point...
It's all about the bass, no point...
My momma told me,
All you need is a booty,
And a beat.
It's all about the bass, no point...
It's all about the bass, no point...

I mean, mega-props to the artist Meghan Trainor (All About That Bass)  getting loads of air time and her success, but the song just annoys me, so here I'm getting it out of my spleen, and moving on :)

Bigot Baker Goes Broke, Oh Boo-Hoo

So, let's be clear:

1) If you want to run a business, and have a license to serve food, you are not allowed to discriminate against human beings. There are provisions for safety and sanitation, e.g. if the person is carrying a knife, or "No shoes, no shirt, no service," but black, gay, short, whatever, not allowed to discriminate;

2) Melissa and her husband CHOSE to refuse service, in violation of the law, and CHOSE to shut down the business office;

3) Apparently, despite running a business in violation of the law, they are trying to dodge the law by baking out of her home kitchen. Okay, this is dodgy because there are sanitation and food preparation laws to protect people. The laws are not meant to screw "mom & pop" shops like these two bigots, the laws are meant to prevent McDonalds-Mega-Corp from selling you even lower quality, e.g. barely-fit-for-animal-consumption, food than they already do.

So, basically, I have no sympathy for these bigots, and I resent their efforts to play for pity and sympathy. In fact, I have no tolerance for bigots of any strip.

And no, this does not "make me a bigot," as the strawman argument goes. Failing to tolerate intolerance makes me a moral, ethical person, who understood the words of Jesus: "We are all children of God," and "What you do to the least among you, you do to me." I.e. "When your petty bigotry leads you - literally or metaphorically - to spit on someone, it means you spit on me."

March 2016 update:  Found a new meme recently, and thought it just fit this so bloody well.

It's Class Warfare, Bitches!

My Opus, when I finally get around to it, will be called "It's Class Warfare, Bitches!"

I was born the year that the great Liberal-Socialist President Ronald Reagan spear-headed the oligarch assault on the middle classes. (And yeah, if he were around today, Limbaugh and the Fox Noise Machine would lambast him as a total socialist).  "Trickle down economics," aka "tinkle down" (like piss from on high) was the opening salvo by Reagan on behalf of the ultra-rich would-be neo-nobility intent on recreating the two-class system of Those With Privilege and the Unwashed Peasantry.

Since this is class Feudalism, I call it Neo-Feudalism. The ultra-rich, like Gov. Mitt Romney or the infamous Koch Brothers, wish to live in a world where they can operate with impunity, figureatively - and eventually literally - raping and pillaging whomever they wish, with the only risk being censure from their peers. Big fucking deal there, when all your peers are as amoral and sociopathic as you are.

Then there are the lapdogs like Rep. Paul Ryan, who see the system, and embrace it while they can, believing that it is better to be a favored lapdog with a small fief then to be the peasant without even a hovel to claim ownership of.

Mucking with tax codes to screw the middle class, raising costs of college, destroying the public education system, sowing fear and making it easier for the poor to kill each other.

It's Class Warfare, Bitches, and you're on the wrong end of the artillery.