I like what boys like
See? Girls can be surfers. Or sharks, sure that too.
Aside from the flash back to 80s pop music (there was a plethora of tunes to choose from on this subject), the topic today involves gender tropes and stereotypes.
The media is huge in its attempt to solidify the gender stereotypes, the ones that state women should be demure, caring, fragile, pretty and basically stay in the kitchen. And it’s just as firm in its attempt to make sure that boys understand that they have to be strong, independent, adventurous and the bread winners of the family. There is no better example of this brain washing, or better way to start than at the preschool and elementary school ages. And Scholastic Books, publishers of books and distributors of many that I enjoyed as a child, has taken the steps to make sure this stereotype continues.
How to survive anything. These are not the Scholastic books you’re looking for. (Photo credit: toastforbrekkie)
They’ve published a book called How To Survive Anything, with the twist that there is a book for boys and a book for girls. The boys book is rather humourous as it teaches how to survive some basic things like falling from a great height to what to do if you get a broken bone. Then it turns the corner to teach how to survive shark attacks, bear attacks, snake bites and other things of that nature (see what I did there?).
The girls only book is quite different. Nowhere in its pages will you find a how to in surviving a car crash, but you’ll find out how to survive a BFF cat fight. Or a fashion disaster. How about what to do if you’re suddenly famous? The book covers that too.
So, I guess the author firmly believes that when a girl finds herself in a situation against, oh, I don’t know, against a shark then the shark obviously looks at her and says…
“Sorry, you’re a girl. My bad. Not my natural food source. I’m gonna go over here now.”
Which is complete crap because sharks don’t do that (nor do snakes or lions or bears or anything else in nature that CAN KILL YOU).
But it goes a lot further than that as it’s a stigma to firmly entrench, to keep girls from being adventurous (or at least, telling girls just exactly what their adventures could be, like shopping!). Girls can grow up to be:
- Fighter pilots
- Police officers
- Trauma surgeons
- Large animal veterinarians
- Fire fighters
- Rock climbers
- Backwoods backpackers
- Sky divers
- Race car drivers
- Rally car drivers
- Auto mechanics
- Newspaper editors
- War zone television reporters
- Astronauts (or even cosmonauts)
- Submarine commanders
And yes, they could even be pretty. Girls can do anything. Books shouldn’t just do things like this and try and separate things into gender specifics. Because, heaven forbid that boys should need to know how to avoid a fashion disaster.
Related articles
- Girl, 15, Has Close Encounter With Shark Off Catalina Coast (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
There is one saying I just cannot stand to hear
I come up against this saying many times at work when I deal with our older subscribers and customers. For a time, I used to just shrug my shoulders and think “yeah, I can see that”.
That saying is “I’m just an old man of (insert age here), I don’t know that fancy technology”. That excuse, and I suspect excuse would be better than a saying, but that excuse is absolute garbage. For me, that excuse became garbage when my father, my 70 year old father (saying how old he is out loud kinda scares me) bought a Fujitsu digital camera (better than mine, by the way) and a netbook, and then a three in one printer. And then they got a Hi-Def digital TV. I don’t even have a Hi-Def digital TV yet!
But saying “Oh, I’m just an old man” is crap! I know people ten, fifteen, even twenty years older than me who are well versed in several computer languages. Who have different electronic devices. Who even play MMO’s, for crying out loud!
There are some that might say “but Arthur Black, who happens to be one of your favourite humourists, he says he’s too old”. No no no. I must correct you there. Arthur Black has never once said he was too old for such devices. He’s actually written about such devices and their affects on the world (and him). He doesn’t use them because he’s too old. He doesn’t use them because he’s a luddite. There’s a difference.
We know the definition of “too old”. Here’s the definition of luddite. First, from Wikipedia:
The main Ludd himself! Ned Ludd. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanized looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life. The movement was named after General Ned Ludd or King Ludd, a mythical figure who, like Robin Hood, was reputed to live in Sherwood Forest.
From dictionary.com:
Lud·dite
/ˈlʌdaɪt/ [luhd-ahyt] – noun
a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment.
Origin:
1805-15; after Ned Ludd, 18th-century Leicestershire worker who originated the idea
That would be a much more acceptable thing to say than just “I’m just an old (person)”. I just will not accept that. Unless you are infirm, or feeble, there is no excuse to learn some new piece of technology.
That is, of course, you happen to be a luddite.
She Has No Head! – No, It’s Not Equal
She Has No Head! – No, It’s Not Equal | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources.
This is an excellent opinion piece on how women are treated in comics. Spoiler: they’re treated badly, like objectified sexual tools.
Why you ask? Well, because I knew it would cause a ****storm, as any comics column that’s remotely controversial does, especially it seems when written by a woman. I had also decided, partway through writing She Has No Head! that I was going to take a decidedly more positive tact for the column, primarily focusing on books that are good, and what I’d like to see more of, supporting creators that are getting it right.
Read the rest of the article for a good look into sexism in comics and the fact it’s actually getting worse.
Just avoid the comments. Yes, there is a lot of really positive comments, but there’s also crap like this.
When I hear Fems argue for more representations of fat, slovenly, lazy men as love interests in female power/sex fantasy oriented Romance Novels, maybe I might give a damn about their hissy fit over superhero comics.
And this.
This is essentially about censorship. Saying bad art doesn’t deserve to exist because it offends your political beliefs is not acceptable in a free society. Maybe you wouldn’t jail an anime fan for child porn or assassinate a cartoonist for depicting Mohammed, but you are on the same side of the fence as the people who do. If only there was some sort of legal defense fund for comic books.
Related articles
- Female Superhero Comic Book Art by Lynne Yoshii (geektyrant.com)
- Comic Book Six Degrees: Mystery Men to Mystery Men (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com)
Time now for something… a little bit serious
Trigger warning for a discussion of rape
I don’t often write more serious toned posts on this blog (I leave that for my tumblog where I can get all ragey… just kidding). But this is something that really stuck with me.
It’s a problem that has persisted for a long, long time. It’s something that comes up in conversation a lot. It’s a word that we use, without thought to it’s present day meaning. I’m talking about rape, but more specifically, the use of rape as humour.
The act of rape, the violent assault that is perpetrated upon a woman (and let’s face it, women face this in greater percentage than men do) is not a laughing matter. Murder isn’t even a laughing matter, but there are more jokes about rape than there are about murder. Over on tumblr, some users manage to toss around comments like “that bitch needs to get kneecapped and raped” without thought of how that will affect a reader.
We need to step back and really examine the use of the word. I know that in years past the word rape was more commonly associated with “rape seed” or the plant that we also call canola. That’s gone by the way side, as the word has been used more often to describe a vicious assault.
Rape victims are the only ones who face shaming, and even blame for being raped. Which is why a good number of rapes do not go reported. The victim is often accused of wearing the wrong clothing. From what I’ve read the wrong clothing is anything. It’s more that the offender couldn’t and didn’t want to stop himself. Rape is an act of control and power by the offender. They often times will know the victim.
We live in a world that has created a culture of rape. Where women are taught how not to get raped, but men are never taught to not rape.
This is related, and while may be seen as sort of light hearted, I think it’s a good idea for anyone that’s tired of rape jokes. Instead of getting into an argument about rape, simply do this. First, download this business card template. Print off on a set of Avery labels (business card sheets, ten to a sheet). Keep them on you in a small business card carrier. When someone cracks a rape joke, hand them a card.
They look like this. Here’s the front.
And here’s the back.
The wording on the back might be a bit harsh, but it also might grab attention.
Maybe it’ll also change a few minds.
Overt racism in rant
Go to the above link to view the conversation. It starts off with really uniformed, racist garbage.
It got me thinking about a conversation I had last night. All the news we (meaning, here in this part of Canada) hear about are the drug cartels and the killings and things like that. There is another side to the story. Mexico isn’t a haven of blood thirsty cutthroats, anymore than the United States is. I know people who live in Canada who think that way about the United States, and for a time, thanks to stereotyping, so did I.
The people I talked to about this last night, however, pointed to the fact that sometimes people who get into trouble in Mexico do so because they did something dumb. They flipped somebody off, got drunk and started a fight, walked into the wrong section of town. Which, when you think about it, is no different than anything in the area we (meaning those who live in West Central Saskatchewan) happen to live in. Would you go down a dark alleyway at midnight on 20th Street in Saskatoon? Probably not, because certain sections of 20th are pretty rough. And while they aren’t necessarily tourist areas, if someone out of country happened to do such a thing, get attacked, and then return home, would have a negative story to tell. Have this happen enough, and the negativity grows.
Same thing with Mexico. While I have never been to Mexico, I’m sure there are very nice areas of the country, just as there are more than likely very bad areas of the country. Probably no different than down in the States or up here in Canada. Or any country, for that matter.
Part of that is a problem with the media, where we are only given one kind of view of a country. For instance, a massive stereotype about the Middle East is it’s filled with camels, nomads, sand and oil. The latter being often cited as the only good thing in the Middle East. Obvious, Dubai must be this mythical place that really doesn’t exist in the Middle East (/sarcasm). Most likely, a lot of those countries look at us in the same manner.
As far as ESL, I’ve known several people who have come to Canada who have taken English as a Second Language. It is not, as the original rant in the link states, English “is” a Second Language. It’s teach people English as “their” second language so they can communicate with people much easier. Because, a lot of times those individuals who emigrate from other countries to Canada (or the States) will end up running a business, which means they will be creating jobs.
Now, I know there’s a lot more information that needs to be explored, but it’s something we have to actively do. Bottom line, don’t spout off on a rant without knowing some important facts first.
Regarding days
Or, in this case, years. As a part of a previous post (found here) which has garnered some … interest … here’s a quick video on the different calendars we’ve had in the world. I’d explain here, but, just watch the video. Take note, in the video it’s explained that the Romans used to have an eight day week. So the Beatles weren’t that far off*.
And here’s another video explaining it all. Or, at least explaining how much bunk the 2012 Mayan calendar ending in 2012.
I hope this brings about some insight as to the different lines of thought on how days, weeks, years, months, so on and so forth have changed over the thousands of years.
*And now, the Beatles.
The Biblical concept of days
Image via Wikipedia
I hear this a lot, that according to those who follow the Bible with extreme faith, that each word of the Bible is taken literally. A very good example is the number of days that God took to create heaven and Earth. Six, in fact. Resting on the seventh.
But what exactly is a day, according to Biblical terms. Days, months, years, weeks, hours, minutes… those are all human constructs. Time didn’t exist until someone decided that there were sixty seconds in a minute and sixty minutes in an hour. And twenty four hours in a day. And so on and so forth. When the solar system was created (I’ll leave it at solar system, because I don’t want to have more than one discussion at a time), according to the Bible it took six days. According to human thought, which is limited in it’s concepts, six days is one twenty four hour period six times. However, the concept of time hadn’t been fully thought of until much, much later. So, as far as anyone is concerned, a day could very well be something like the Jurassic Period. Or the Mesozoic Era.
Science shoots the theory of the Earth only being 4 or 6 thousand years old (or ten thousand at the outset) out of the water. The fact that we have proof that many civilizations existed thousands of years before what many fundamentalists believe is a contradiction. It’s a fact that humans migrated, built cities and civilizations almost one hundred thousand years ago.
But what if days, as described in the Bible, are in fact a period of a few million years? And what if, in fact, God’s resting on the sixth day is in fact what is happening now at this very point. We, meaning humans, were given the ability to think and even hypothesis on things like this, so why don’t we often do that instead of blindly follow something. Do you think we’ll just end up insulting God (which, quite frankly, I don’t think we as an insignificant species within the vast expanse of the universe)? I honestly don’t think we can.
But How Do You Know It’s Sexist? The #MenCallMeThings Round-Up
Tiger Beatdown › But How Do You Know It’s Sexist? The #MenCallMeThings Round-Up.
I found this article at Tiger Beatdown. I’ve read a few articles from that site before, and it’s one of the places I go to (including STFUSexists over on tumblr) to educate myself regarding the differences in how men and women think (it’s honestly not that hard, merely asking for starters helps).
But it seems now there’s this very dangerous attitude that’s growing and growing. Maybe I just didn’t observe it before all that well, but it’s rather disturbing nonetheless. It also ties in quite nicely with what I talked about yesterday about Mary Sues. The example I used yesterday about taking the Batman origin and change it up for a woman with the only changes being gender, works in the real world as well.
There are masculine and feminine descriptors for people. What are considered the norm are stoic, rational, adventurous, investigative and more. On the other hand, descriptors such as sensitive, emotional, weak and others are focused on negative aspects of a person, and more often than not, related to women. However, if you take stoic or rational and tag them to a woman, they change. They become aggressive and threatening or mean. Because the previous words are often identified with men, while the latter words are identified with women.
That’s something we have to change, both in fiction and the real world. Maybe it starts in one, and moves to the other, but something needs to be done. It’s turning into a large amount of hatred from all corners. The author of the blog, Tiger Beatdown, goes onto say in her post that the amount of hate she’s received. The words are disgusting.
Trigger warning for violent and abusive language.
One of the messages she received, and are similar to ones I’ve seen friends of mine have received for speaking their mind, include; I will fuck your ass to death you filthy fucking whore, you’re only worth ….
I think that first one was most likely the worst, and I really won’t go into more. Needless to say, the messages received included threats of sexual violence, de-legitimizing intelligence, politics, and even gender, calling out as being mean, using name calling, and much more.
So, what kind of ignorance makes a person pick up their phone, send a tweet to someone they hardly know, or don’t know at all, and threatens them with rape. Or calls them a little girl. Or calls them stupid. Are we devolving as a society where we consider half the population as nothing more than sexual objects. And even less if they don’t fit into that frame?
I encourage people to check out Tiger Beatdown, there’s a lot of good stuff there. Same with STFUSexists. Steel thyself, however. There can be many topics which are discussed that are rage inducing. Not against the hosting site but against people that often make me scream “how can you think of doing that”.
Mary Sue, who are you!
This actually was posted originally on my tumblr blog, but I believe it bears repeating here. The discussion involves what exactly is a Mary Sue. There seems to be a huge double standard with regard to how they are perceived.
Male power fantasies, in essence, a strapping young lad, with chiseled good looks, unfailing wit and charm, and can do no wrong, seems to be considered the norm. Take those same qualities, however, and apply them to a female power fantasy (yes, they exist, women have power fantasies as well) and suddenly it becomes a Mary Sue. A trope. Even if one takes all the positives seen in someone who is feminine, translate those into how that person gains their incredible power, and it’s still seen as a trope or a Mary Sue. Take all the male aspects and use the positives to describe how he gains his abilities? Well, that’s just good writing.
Here’s a prime example that I shall pluck from the discussion. This was originally posted by adventuresofcomicbookgirl on tumblr, but I liked this one description she gave of a female character that many would call out as a Mary Sue.
So, there’s this girl. She’s tragically orphaned and richer than anyone on the planet. Every guy she meets falls in love with her, but in between torrid romances she rejects them all because she dedicated to what is Pure and Good. She has genius level intellect, Olympic-athelete level athletic ability and incredible good looks. She is consumed by terrible angst, but this only makes guys want her more. She has no superhuman abilities, yet she is more competent than her superhuman friends and defeats superhumans with ease. She has unshakably loyal friends and allies, despite the fact she treats them pretty badly. They fear and respect her, and defer to her orders. Everyone is obsessed with her, even her enemies are attracted to her. She can plan ahead for anything and she’s generally right with any conclusion she makes. People who defy her are inevitably wrong.
The reactions would be, invariably, that the character is such a Mary Sue. However, if you look closely at the above description, adventuresofcomicbookgirl just finished describing the back story for Batman. For men, this is normal, to have these reaffirming power fantasies set before them, but for women, it’s not normal, and in many cases there are those who say such power fantasies are dangerous. Unhealthy. But why not, why can’t women have their own power fantasies, giving proper role models to young women and girls everywhere. They have just as much right to have such stories as the other half of the human population on the planet Earth do.
To read the entire conversation, just open up adventuresofcomicbookgirl‘s thread and start reading. Below is my own take on it, as added to the thread of discussion.
I actually got an email over a year ago, regarding the serial series I posted called Black Mask & Pale Rider. One of my characters, Pania, got called a Mary Sue. Which, at first I found hilarious, considering the fact that I’m a guy. And from what I am familiar with of the concept of Mary Sue is that such a character is similar to a self insertion. If I were to do that, then I’d be crafting a male character. But anyway, more to the point…
Pania Alow is quite feminine. She’s a singer and a dancer, and the latter she uses to help with her sword play. She comes from a family that is incredibly interested in discovering the history of a culture through their stories. Not to recreate them or write their own songs about them, but to simply learn about them. Pania herself tries very hard to view each person as a unique individual, though there are times she will formulate an opinion on face value. She’s a very attractive woman, curvy and sensuous, with a playful smile and a knowing look in her eyes. She likes fine fashion in her clothing, but attempts to mix it with practicality. She’s also a lesbian, and rather vocal about it, so much so that her partner in crime, Shani Wennemein, has to remind her of the stigma that people in 1863 Earth view on “oddities” they may find. Pania is a helpful person, sacrificing her own needs for the needs of others, more often than not.
There’s a great deal more to Pania than just that. But even with all of that, Pania ended up being called a Mary Sue. As if using that for an insult. Now that I’ve read this, though, the only response I can now come up with is sure. If Pania is viewed as a Mary Sue, what I would consider to be a positive role model for a young woman, then by all means. Pania is intelligent, understanding, helpful, attractive, not afraid of her sexuality, and eager to learn all she can. At the same time, she can be judgmental, quick to anger, sometimes headstrong, forcefully opinionated, and a bit of a tease. She has as many faults as she has positive abilities.
If those are qualities of a Mary Sue, then I guess they just happen to be.
Related articles
- If you knew, Mary Sue, then you’d know why I feel blue (talesfromthemushroom.wordpress.com)
- Things I’ve learned about life and writing (taholtorf.wordpress.com)
First comments make me cringe
The Black Library – First Look: Hammer & Anvil Cover Art.
Nice look, I’ll probably check out the book Hammer and Anvil and even look to pick up Faith and Fire (both from the Warhammer 40K universe).
Still, some of the comments on female characters makes me cringe.
Guillermo said:
she could look more femenine, I know she is a warrior but still Sexy SOB are really something else. Looking forward for this book.
What do you mean “more feminine”? What the fuck do you mean by that? She looks pretty feminine to me! Oh! Wait! You must mean less armour. Yeah, because that totally fucking protects you when in combat. Ya know, chainmail bikini has the best armour class EVAR! The more boobs and butt showing, the better protected.
Bullshit.
I think the above looks awesome.
(via The Black Library – Faith and Fire)
And just ordered the first book, Faith and Fire. Once I read it, I’ll order Hammer and Anvil. I kind of like the Warhammer stuff, actually.
Related articles
- Warhammer Stuff Looks Really Good on My Bookshelf! from The Underdark Gazette (underdarkgazette.blogspot.com)
- Black Library offers Christmas (teleread.com)
Adventures in pants!
Totally not my jeans. Image via Wikipedia
Today I came to the realization that I had to retire one of my favourite pairs of weekend jeans. They had holes in them, but they were comfortable and just something I could wear around the house. I didn’t wear them all summer, because that’s when I wear my shorts around the house on weekends. But today was a little cooler, so it’s time to retire the shorts for this year. Out come the weekend jeans.
Which took me five minutes to shimmy into, and then ten minutes to peel out of.
Niether are these, but they look comfy. Image via Wikipedia
Maybe it’s that aspect of age where certain parts of the human body begin moving south, but I remember my waist being not that big, nor my legs. And I’m not that big to begin with. But today I find out that my trusty weekend jeans are suddenly now a quick trip to torture land. My calves being squeezed so badly that I can’t feel my feet at all, and let’s not forget about the really sensitive area without actually discussing it. Let’s just say that going to the bathroom without making a mess would have been an adventure in itself.
I am suddenly struck with the realization I will have to throw out a pair of jeans (I could give them to goodwill, but even they wouldn’t take them with the condition they are in) and buy new ones. The work jeans I have are slowly becoming weekend jeans, which is okay, I don’t mind that. I’ll have new jeans to look forward to wearing on weekends. Maybe I’ll get a pair of bib coveralls, but that would only mean going to the bathroom would be an equally sad adventure.
Oh well. Looks like I’ll have to make the sacrifice and buy new jeans. At least then I might find some where I can use a belt with.
The Way I See It: Political Landscape of Saskatchewan
Last night was the leaders debate for the upcoming Saskatchewan provincial election. It was quite lackluster. So much so, that I found myself longing for the old days with the political landscape in this province.
At present, we have two large political factions. On the right, there is the Sask Party, made up of old members of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Saskatchewan Liberal Party. Center Left is the New Democratic Party. Then, there are several smaller factions, which include The Saskatchewan Liberal Party, who I understand this election are focusing all of their efforts in winning just one seat in the Battlefords. The other smaller party of note is the Saskatchewan Green Party, which is currently on the same road as the old CCF was at one time. They’re hoping to gain five seats in this election, but we’ll have to see. Current predictions show that there most likely won’t be any change in the status quo.
But last night, I got thinking how the political landscape in this province would be markedly different had one event not happened. More than twenty years ago, things started that made this province very interesting. Linda Haverstock was elected as leader of the provincial Liberal party, Roy Romanow had taken over as leader of the NDP, and the PC Party looked to be on it’s last legs.
The provincial election of 1991 set the stage for what was to come over the next ten years. Many of the members of the Grant Devine Government of the 1980′s were indicted on charges of fraud and embezzlement. Romanow became what was jokingly known as the best Liberal premier Saskatchewan had in a long time. And Haverstock and her Liberals were gaining major steam, mostly due to the charismatic and intelligent nature of Haverstock herself.
Then something happened. The Saskatchewan Liberal Party called for a vote of confidence in Haverstock. In a slim vote, Haverstock took the confidence 51% to 49, but she still stepped down as leader. To make matters worse, the party stripped her of her membership. All of this is still mind boggling, considering the fact that many in the province saw Haverstock as a natural leader. There were predictions that she was on track to become the next premier of the province, and the first woman to do so.
After she was stripped of her membership, a few Liberal MLAs and the remaining PC MLAs joined forces to form the Sask Party. Just think, if that had never happened, if Haverstock never had a vote of confidence forced on her, what would have happened. There’s all kinds of speculation, and it’s my own right to speculate all I want, so here goes.
Haverstock and her Liberals would have won the provincial election of the late 1990s in Saskatchewan, which would have ushered in the first Liberal government since the 1960s, and the first woman to sit as premier of Saskatchewan. Haverstock would have been compared to Romanow quite a bit, because while she acted as a continuous measure of conscious for the ruling NDP while she was opposition leader, she also had some of the same values. She knew of the importance of the province’s crown corporations, knew of the importance of the unions, but was also not willing to give in to what might be considered frivolous demands. Had Haverstock not been stripped of membership, the Sask Party never would have existed, and instead the PC Party would be struggling to rebuild with the Liberal Party holding three straight governments. That’s right, Haverstock would have lead the Saskatchewan Liberal Party to three straight provincial governments, with the last two being slim majorities. Romanow still would have retired, Calvert still would have become leader of the NDP, but I think it would have been doubtful if Dwain Lingenfelter would have taken another swing at politics like he has currently.
One event. Just one, small event, would have completely changed things in this province. Instead, we are now forced to sit through two leaders who have done an amazing job of name calling, and kept a 2011 election campaign completely under the radar with lackluster promises and less than stellar rhetoric.
Related articles
Hey! Isn’t today supposed to be the Rapture?
Look at that, I get to use one of these again.
This completely went by without a thought.
I remember all the hoopla about May 21 earlier this year. It was supposed to be the Rapture, the time when the chosen would be carried into heaven and the rest of us poor sods would dwell in some sort of nasty stuff. Which, personally, puts a complete downer for me for the plans I have for this weekend and for November’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month for the uninitiated).
Have we gotten tired of these end of the world prognostications? I know I have. These individuals who say that they will pour over the Bible and try to predict when the end times are upon us seem to forget one thing. The Bible also states that the end will come like a thief in the night and that anyone who tries to predict it is a liar.
Think about that for a second, all those who go about predicting the complete destruction of the world. The Bible, the holy tome which all Christians (re: the right wing group) holds more sacred than any other (yet, doesn’t really seem to follow all of the suggested tenants) just called them all a bunch of liars. Maybe there hasn’t been as much hoopla about this date is because the prediction for earlier this year, made by Family Radio founder Harold Camping, got sort of drowned out by the fact it never happened at all. There was the usual back pedaling, which included stating that the Rapture did indeed happen, but it was spiritual and invisible, and that the actual physical Rapture would take place on October 21. Five months later.
You know, when I make a prediction, and to be honest I never do, I can back pedal with bullshit pretty good too. When push comes to shove, I can regurgitate so much bullshit, I can make people believe that you can make a rocket ship using a spoon,a paper clip, a rubber band and a tube of toothpaste (watch, now someone’s gonna try it).
To the end times predictors: stop, just stop! Admit you’re wrong, stop trying to predict it, and stop heralding the end times in an effort to bilk people of their money and manipulate them. Because that’s what you’re actually doing. You’re a big fraud just manipulating people, and in the long run you make every other Christian look bad. So please, just stop it already.
Related articles
- Harold Camping Oct. 21 Rapture: God Stopped Saving People in May, Family Radio Says By Nicola Menzie (trinityspeaks.wordpress.com)
- Harold Camping Updates Rapture Prediction: October 21st (sfist.com)
- Is the Rapture (really) today? (roadsfromemmaus.org)
- Rescheduled Rapture Doesn’t Happen (newser.com)
- The End is Nigh! (dangeroustalk.net)
- Failed ‘Rapture’ prophet Harold Camping: “World will end on October 21″ (mirror.co.uk)
- Rapture Insurance – act now… you have less than 24 hours to go!!! (pinnaclelife.co.nz)
- Harold Camping avoids press despite end-of-days prediction (csmonitor.com)
- Apocalypse, again: Camping says today’s the day (cbsnews.com)
- Rapture 2.0: The end is near, again (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
The Way I See It: Sanctity of life
There’s a term that is often bandied about by the anti-choice (or pro-life crowd). That term is sanctity of life. They claim that abortion is wrong because all living beings have a right to life. Okay, I can sort of get behind that. But there’s something else that comes into play with the term.
If you are someone who claims the sanctity of life is all important, then here is a list of other things you need to get behind.
If you are in favour of the sanctity of life then:
- you will demand that the oppression committed upon the Palestinian people by the Israeli government ends now. You will demand that governments the world over impose sanctions against Israel in order to ensure that the Palestinian people are afforded their own sanctity of life.
- you will support social programs that keep the poor living a sustainable life. Programs that assist them in finding employment. Programs to ensure that they will have affordable access to Medicare.
- you will denounce the actions of large corporations that use sweat shop labour in order to sell products at bargain basement prices. Sweat shops that pay next to nothing, and who’s workers include women and children, with both often facing massive amounts of abuse.
- you will demand that the government stop any and all war efforts in the Middle East and begin to send humanitarian aid forces to teach, offer medical aid, and help grow food.
- you will demand that militant, right wing religious organizations (Christian and Muslim alike) be disbanded and their leaders set to trial for crimes against humanity.
- you will demand that women’s shelters be erected so that women who suffer from domestic violence, rape, harassment and other vicious and violent crimes have some place safe to go to.
- you will demand that the police take an active interest in policing everyone equally.
- you will demand that any woman who has been forced to give birth into poverty, will be given the proper aid to raise their child and ensure that child grows up healthy.
- you will demand a better justice system so that criminals can be rightly arrested, charged and convicted. And if there is a mistake, you will demand those who are innocent be set free.
- you will demand the end to the death penalty in all its forms, all over the world, because that is also an example of the oppression of sanctity of life.
The system is down
It’s amazing what a lack of telecommunications can do to a person and a business.
Fuck you, no it's not!Image by Steve Rhode via Flickr
Around 10:00 a.m. my place of work was suddenly without Internet. Then we discovered we were without long distance service. Our Intranet worked fine. But that’s an internal office network, so no worries there unless there’s a problem with our cabling, then we have to fix it. You know, all of us and our technical expertise combined. Let’s just say it’s a good thing there’s a computer shop across the street.
Me, in my paranoia, thought the worst; that Sasktel had cut us off. I took out my laptop and searched for the one security free wireless network I knew of, and connected to it. No such luck, there was no connection that way either.
It got worse, when we found out that cell phones couldn’t work either. Which was odd, because cell phones work over a different wireless service.
But here we were, no internet, no long distance phone calls, and no cellular service. As it turned out, there was no 3G cellular service. The reason being was a 64 pair cable was cut when someone was doing some heavy digging. Obviously, they didn’t pay attention to the SaskPower commercials and “call before you dig”. I’d go into details as to exactly what a 64 pair cable is, but I can’t research that right now. I have no internet, and there are no technical books which can describe that here.
Needless to say, we are without any connection to the outside world. Our world just became huge. Banks were without connection, which meant ABM’s were down. No one could use point of sale interact machines. Faxes were down. Internet was down. We don’t even have the old dial up BBMs to connect to anymore.
No twitter, no facebook, no tumblr, no wordpress. No checking news sites for the latest note worthy things. MMO’s are out. Bonus side, no one sending me damn farmville requests anymore. Or at least until Sasktel gets the cable fixed. Which, I was informed by one customer who came in, that repairing a 64 pair cable was usually a two day job. Better not be. I might start getting the bends if there was no communication to the outside world. I might have to drive to Saskatoon just to get my fix.
It’s Wednesday, June 8, 2011. 2:18 in the afternoon. Hopefully, I’ll be posting this up on Wednesday evening.
An interesting thought came to mind. I had to chuckle as I thought about it. If I can’t post this, I’ll just save the text file and email it to myself. Right, forgot. No Internet connection. It’s sort of like the power going out, and the first thing you think of when your computer monitor goes black is “maybe I’ll go watch TV”. Well, here’s hoping your TV is running on a backup generator, because if it isn’t, your TV screen will be as black as your computer monitor.
It’s interesting to think, as I now sit here in a communication vacuum. In a blackout, everything goes down, all power cut. This, I think is worse than that. The power’s on, which means I can still use my computer, so I can still do jobs that need to be done. But in some cases many of the tools that I use are now lost to me. Like clipart. We deal with a massive online house that holds a lot of clipart that we have access to at work. Can’t get access to it when the communication network has gone poof.
I was talking with some of my coworkers (okay, both of them) and mentioned that it’s a good thing this happened on a Wednesday, and not on a Tuesday. Tuesday’s for this to happen would be bad. Reason being, that’s when we upload our newspaper pages to get plated for their press run. We’d be able to finish the pages, sure, but uploading them would involve transferring everything to a flash drive, getting in the car and driving it up to our press. Our press happens to be two and a half hours north west of this present location, so I think you can see the problem. Needless to say, had this happened on a Tuesday, there would have been a lot of screaming. Followed by crying. More screaming. Then crying. And finally sobbing. It’s a lot like the many stages of denial. First anger, then sadness, then defiance, followed by negotiation, and lastly reluctant acknowledgment of the predicament.
All the usual thoughts have crossed my mind, all which point to how extremely dependent we have become on the Internet and a telecommunications system that we have. Thoughts like, “I wonder if this was what it was like fifteen years ago.” Which is kind of laughable, because I should know what it was like fifteen years ago. I was there. “This must have been what they had to deal with at the turn of the century.” First, by turn of the century, I would hope that means moving into the 20th Century, and not the 21st Century, because again, I was there. Second, even if the thought is what it was like in the early, early 1900s, we’re missing a lot of things than just the Internet and cell phone coverage. We still have computers, cars, planes, super sonic trains, and obviously, 2G networks which still seem to work.
Oxford, how you failed me!Cover via Amazon
I can’t even do small, stupid things that I sometimes am want to do, like look up the definition and history of some word or activity because my brain just says “I really need to know this right now”. Like parkour. Sadly, I’m currently left with only my Pocket Oxford Dictionary, which was printed in 1985. And definitions run from park to parkade to parky. Oh Oxford Dictionary, you have failed me. The only other book I have is a Roget’s II The New Thesaurus, which was printed in 1984. It doesn’t even have the word park, let alone parkour. And forget about the Dictionary of Saskatchewan Place Names. While handy and will easily tell me that the village of Kuroki was named after a Japanese diplomat, it will not tell me the history of parkour. The closest is Parkside, which is a village just south of Shellbrook and named after Parkside House, Yorkshire, England, which was the birthplace of settler J. R. Waterhouse.
Sleepy Hollow, the village, not named for this dude's poem.Image via Wikipedia
The more useless information which has no bearing on your real life that you know, the better you are. Or maybe not. Did you know there is a Sleepy Hollow in Saskatchewan? The book doesn’t indicate whether this was named for the town in the Washington Irving poem.
But now I’m rambling. See what a total lack of telecommunication does to a person. Hopefully this won’t last much longer. Oh, look! Posters to do. At least I can print that off without the need for the Internet. Wait. They want clip art of a car. I shall now sigh heavily and hang my head, as yet another aspect of this modern age of telecommunication has come crumbling down.
All thanks to someone who forgot to call before they dug, and it’s now 3:00 p.m.
Twenty minutes later, telecommunications are fixed.
The Way I see It: Skirting the rules
Image via Wikipedia
While reading the Saturday edition of the Star Phoenix, a short in brief caught my eye in the sports section. Normally, I wouldn’t pay much attention to the Sports In Brief because often there isn’t anything interesting that I would find. Not saying that isn’t the case for every reader. However, this one article drew in my attention.
Titled “Badminton delays ‘skirt rule’ intro” as I read I discovered that the Badminton World Federation is trying to introduce a new code of dress for female badminton players, requiring them to wear skirts or dresses at major tournaments in order to “ensure attractive presentation of badminton”. According to the article, this controversial rule will be introduced June 1.
Image via Wikipedia
You might ask why it’s controversial. Well, is there such a rule for male badminton players? Already the rule has been criticized, as some players have said it hampers their movement on the court and made them uncomfortable. This is a rule, however, and one which the head of the BWF hopes will make the sport more attractive. This means that simple skill of the player alone isn’t enough to make the sport attractive, female players have to be dressed up and objectified in order to draw in the crowds.
Players from China, Indonesia and India have been vocally against the rule, which allows players to continue to wear shorts as long as they are underneath the skirt. But what actual aspect of the sport does this help, outside of making something, in this case a female player, pretty? In hockey, helmets became mandatory in the mid 80′s, and subsequent equipment modifications have been made to help with the safety measures. Same in football, as new helmets and pads, along with face masks are always changing to make sure that the player’s safety is first and foremost in mind. Baseball has made changes, all to help make the sport, not the player, more exciting and dynamic. For all the regular viewer is concerned, they might be watching tennis or ping pong if they see a female player in a skirt. What about making equipment for the sport that helps the player, not hinders them.
Note in the above examples, in the male dominated sports, equipment changes were put in place to ensure the safety of the player. There have been a lot of changes over the decades in hockey, football and baseball. And I’m sure you could also find those for soccer as well. But for female sports, all changes that are made are designed to make the player more attractive for the viewer. Perhaps figure skating might be the only sport which takes into account the safety of the skater, but I haven’t researched that enough.
Until next time…
…keep ‘em flyin’.
Related Articles
- Where and when did badminton originate from (wiki.answers.com)
- World badminton pushes back women’s skirt rule to improve guidelines (telegraph.co.uk)
South Dakota Moves To Legalize Killing Abortion Providers | Mother Jones
South Dakota Moves To Legalize Killing Abortion Providers | Mother Jones.
Another shock and awe from down south as now, law makers are considering a law that will allow for the killing of abortion providers. This in South Dakota.
All of the moves are coming from the extreme right camp of politics and lead by extreme right wing Christians that want the Christian faith upheld above all in the States. What they don’t understand is that the Shariah law (Islamic law) that they fear so much, is already infecting United States government. It’s just called Christian law.
The Way I See It: 19th Amendment
So, there have been a few articles I’ve been pointed to by people who completely disagree with the context of said articles. I can see why, as they all call for the American government to repeal the 19th Amendment. Let that settle in for a bit. Not sure what the 19th Amendment is? Well, it’s an important Amendment for women.
It allows women the right to vote.
“Oh Tim! You’re so funny! You must be joking! No one would ever think that!”
No. No I’m not.
Time to repeal the 19th Amendment
Peenie Wallie: Repeal 19th Amendment
Monosyllabic Pedantry: Repeal the 19th Amendment
Bryana Bevens: Repeal the 19th Amendment
I’ll give you time to pick your jaw up off the floor, considering that some of the people advocating the repeal of the 19th Amendment are, in fact, women. That, I find the most disturbing of all. Each article states that women cannot make the proper decisions that require voting and also calls a woman’s vote incredibly emotional.
Okay, let’s live in this right-wing nut bar world for a little bit (as I thank God I live in Canada). Let’s say, for just a moment, that the 19th Amendment is in fact repealed. That would mean, I should think, that women would not be allowed to hold office. Because if you can’t vote in the voting booth due to the fact that you are emotional while you make your decision, then how can you be counted on to vote properly while holding a seat of office? Really!
So, what’s the next step after repealing the 19th Amendment? Wait! I know! Let’s remove the right to vote from Blacks and Native Americans! That HAS to be the next step. Honestly! It’s only logical. Because, neither of those groups holds the proper intellect to come up with a properly defined decision (please note, this statement was said sarcastically, normally, I would not have to put this warning, but sometimes, some people just don’t get it, I do not endorse the aforementioned).
Let’s leave the part about removing the right to vote for visible minorities for a moment, and let’s focus on the 19th Amendment, shall we! Now, while I don’t wish to see women lose the right to vote, having put in place the argument that if women can’t vote then they shouldn’t hold office either, I can see some advantages with this. For starters, women like Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter would have no choice but to shut the hell up. Because, there would be no 19th Amendment! They couldn’t possibly lecture to people what it’s like to run government. And if they did, their husbands better be standing beside them.
That is, of course, a worst case scenario. Because there are a lot of women in government who’s heads aren’t strategically placed firmly up their asses. They wouldn’t have any say either. So with the good comes the bad. A lot of talking heads would be gone, but a lot of sound advocates would be as well. Continually, every day I hear about the Teabaggers (and they shall forever be known as Teabaggers to me!), I am proven again and again how they want the United States to be the most backwards country in the entire world.
And I say again: Thank God I live in Canada!
Until next time…
…keep ‘em flyin’!
Zodi Files 5
It’s always a bitch when someone, who is a friend, bitch slaps you with the truth. I’ve recently had a friend who has done that and within just two sentences, I fled from the computer. It was a painful but at the same time it was enlightening to see how my friends see me.
For the most part, it’s all been the same.
They all see through the outgoing, try to shock you where you stand personality and see me for who I really am. And it’s these friends who are actually the ones who mean more to me than the superficial ones who claim to be my friends. People who aren’t afraid to see me cry, whether it’s in person or on a camera.
Many people know that I crave attention like a fish craves water. I like people staring at me because my hair is bright shocking pink. I like hearing them whisper, even if I get a sense of the dreads that it might be negative. I like attention. But I don’t know completely why; because at the same time I hate the stares and the whispers.
It could have something to do with my fetish of being exposed, then again it could just because I have some psychological issue that need to be addressed and I’m not ready to face them. Surprisingly enough, or not so surprisingly, it might just be both of these. Sure I am an odd one, anyone in my family will tell you that. They would easily tell you I will speak my mind and do what I want because that is how I have been since I was a child.
Mom and dad both raised me to march to the beat of my own drum. So I do and with a flair. So I don’t know why it always comes as a shock when people tell me that my crazy hair color, dressing in a way that makes me feel sexy or beautiful. Those of you have read previous my previous Zodi Files know that I am hardly the most confident person in the world. I feel like I have to act confident so that people will try to take advantage of a push over like me.
Okay so I’m not the biggest push over, but I’m easily overwhelmed into doing something.
So I do things to grab attention. My most recent endeavor was dying my hair my favorite shade of pink. Manic Panic Hot Hot Pink. It got the attention I wanted and so much more. Earlier this evening I was told that a close friend’s wife knew that I suffered from more than just seasonal depression and that what I do its just an act to get attention. This hit me in the face like a wrecking ball. I was shocked that she saw through my masks.
I was never completely close with my friend’s wife. She’s always been kinda shy to me, and it’s only very recently that I’ve gotten close to her, more close to her and her husband than I have been in the seven years that I’ve known them. I love them like they are my family, hell, they practically. So it hurt even more hearing the truth, again.
When my friend told me that this is what his wife thought, I was terrified, scared, shocked and wanting to flee. But I tried to keep it together. Blinking back the tears, but it didn’t help. When I thought I had it together enough to tell him verbally that it was all true, all I could do was hold up a finger and flee to go cry in the kitchen.
A few moments later, I returned and my friend asked me if I wanted to know what else his wife thought. Of course I thought I was ready for it, but oh man I totally wasn’t. She thought I was addicted to sex. My friend countered that in my defense and quickly said that it was my way of feeling loved. Again the truth. Ugly as ever right in my face.
However this is where it was a yes it’s my way of feeling loved and no it’s something more than just a psychological reason. I love my husband with all my heart and willingly give myself to him because he enjoys my body and I enjoy his. Yep, I enjoy sex. I like flavoring it up and I’m not overly bashful about what I do. So what if I enjoy it rough, or a little kinky.
Sure my interests are a little weird compared to most, but that is what makes sex enjoyable for me. I like light BDSM. But it isn’t always like that. I don’t always want the kinky flavorful stuff. Sometimes I just want gentle, romantic love making and my husband gives that to me whenever I want.
I know I have an odd sexual appeal that makes people cringe at times but I don’t tell them oh my god you gotta do it this way it’s so much fun. No, that isn’t me. My flavors don’t often appeal to everyone. I don’t push my sex life on to others. I do make suggestions to help open people and I try to make it subtle, but lets face it; I’m a bull in a china shop when it comes subtle. When I make a suggestion it’s often to help a lacking sex life and try and two people who are madly in love with each other to open up and explore that sex isn’t just missionary position.
One of the ways that I used to entertain myself sexually was with my webcam. I had a whole array of people who used to log on every night to see me. Okay well a much more thinner version of me but still it was me. And again this links back to the attention. Sex sells people what better way to get attention then to show your boobies to some perverts on the internet. Was it dangerous? Hell yes. Would I do it again? Absolutely. I did private shows, I did couples. I even watched a couple or two. However that was in my past and I don’t do cam shows anymore is because I am a mother and I have gained a little more respect for myself.
So yeah sex is a way I feel better about myself because I am with the one I love and it makes me feel loved. I don’t crave it, or have to have it every day every hour every second. I’m almost certain parts of me would begin to protest. However there are times I am insatiable. It’s far and few between.
Now to link the two together though I’m sure I don’t need to since I’m fairly certain that it’s obvious. The need to feel loved and wanted is extreme, I want attention and for the most part will or would do anything to get that.
Fascinated by death… or desensitized by it?
Teen Kills Self on Justin.tv — Update | Threat Level | Wired.com.
Saw this news story retweeted from Cory Doctorow (@doctorow), and being one who feels informed by things that he writes and by association, by things he reads, I felt compelled to have a look.
It’s scary to think that we have become so desensitized by violence in all forms of media, that we egg on or encourage someone to kill themselves. By we, I mean everyone, not just those who were present for the 19 year old Florida teen in the story. But also by 42 year old Kevin Whitrick of Telford, Shropshire, who hung himself in a webcam suicide. The same can be said of Brandon Vedas of Arizona. All three of these people commited suicide (or at the very least died due to self infliction in the case of overdosing on drugs) live via webcam.
That in itself should be shocking. That someone would do such a thing live, while not new, is a harsh reality of the world we live in. It isn’t new, because people have jumped out of windows, shot themselves, hung themselves or done something that ended their life in front of so many people. But this went from being just a city block to being watched by people across the globe. It sends a message that while the globalization of information is wonderful, there’s also a very dark undercurrent.
But what is more shocking, at least to me, is that those who watched would actually egg on, believing the whole thing to be a set up fake. Have we sunk so low as a society, that when we see someone about to kill themselves that the first thing we think of is that it’s all a fake. That none of it is real. It’s shocking and depressing.
Admittedly, many of those who ended up watching something that was very real were more than likely left with a sense of change in their lives. Or, at least I’m hoping so. That not everything on the Internet is faked for promotional use, or attention getting. That some of it is very real, very scary and very serious. My hope is that many of these people will think twice before deciding to egg someone on to hang themselves, or force drugs down their throats. That they’ll actually try to stop them. There are those that probably did, and to them they should at least try to console themselves that they tried.
If this was an attempt at a fifteen minutes of fame, then that is truly sad. Because there is no celebration of the fame, all that is left is a mourning family. Suicide is never funny, and it is never necessary. No one should ever consider that an option, even in jest. There is always something worse than suicide. In the cases of lives taken in a manner such as these, there is a lasting memory by those who watched. There is also a void left in the world, because a life was unnecessarily taken in a manner so needless.
Did You Read It? No? Then Stop Bitching
I’ve been thinking about this for a long, long time now. The thing that actually made me want to actually write a post about it (okay, rant, it’s a rant, I’ll admit it) was the release party of New Moon that Zodi posted the other day.
It’s more than obvious the popularity of the Twilight series, both in movies and in book format. And to that, I draw into the argument another series that Zodi has also read. The Harry Potter series. While Twilight has received more than a few critiques from the internet faithful, poking fun mostly at the imaginative use of the mythos that we’ve come to know about vampires. Let’s face it, first and foremost it’s original. Second, it’s a well crafted romance and people who are very much into that kind of a story will read it.
Thirdly, and possibly the most important point, both Twilight and Harry Potter did something that many had feared would be lost with the new generation growing up. It got people to read books. With Harry Potter a complete controversy arose in that it was about wizardry and magic. Had the targeted audience been a little older, then there might not have been any controversy at all, because I’ve seen a lot worse in books written by Michael Slade. But because it was directed at children, there was an outcry from the religious right. Don’t get me wrong, I consider myself a Christian, but in no way do I push my beliefs on people.
As the Harry Potter book series became more and more popular, I watched in disgust as groups banded together to have book burning parties. Yes, there were those that actually took copies of Harry Potter and burned them. I was mystified by these people, because some were old enough to have remembered the Second World War. I wondered if they were horrified that the Nazis were burning books, and if they spoke out against the very thing they were doing in the present.
To sum it up, the reason for the anger was that Harry Potter, the character, was going to a school of wizardry. And as it states in the Bible “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” As has been translated, wizardry, sorcery, witch craft and it’s like was condemned by God. Okay, I get that, I can deal with that. Even though I know a great number of practicing witches who follow the Bible’s view of peace, love and the proper treatment of their fellow man closer than do many right wing Christians. Ain’t that ironic. But the focus of the Harry Potter books was all about witch craft and wizardry, and the religious right was worried that children would take this as the gospel truth. The religious right forgot two very important things. First, Harry Potter is a work of fiction. And second, kids are a lot smarter than we often will give them credit for. Kids aren’t stupid, but the adults who make the news these days sure are.
Harry Potter did the one thing that kids had not done in a long time. Crack open a book. Parents were reading them to their kids, and in many cases, even the parents were reading the books. The story was captivating and magical (see what I did there, huh, huh!). It drew a perfect picture so the reader could imagine what the world Harry Potter lived in was like.
The thing I found quite amusing was that the majority of people condemning Harry Potter had never opened the book at all. They didn’t read it, so they really had no clue what the story was about. In the end, it boiled down to the simple premise of most epic stories like Harry Potter; good versus evil, with good triumphing. It was a kid’s version of Lord of the Rings. Since J.K. Rowling has written that first book, several more have followed suit. A movie franchise has been created. There’s even a theme park in the works.
Those kids also grew older.
And many began reading Twilight.
I can’t compare the story of Harry Potter and Twilight, they are so far different. The only thing you can say is that both are fantasy. Twilight, however, is geared to an older audience. Teenagers and up. It’s fantasy romance, it’s nothing new that we haven’t seen before. Girl meets boy, boy turns out to be vampire, girl loves boy anyway. Just ask Joss Whedon about that.
Stephanie Mayer also did something that hadn’t been seen in such a way before with vampires. She tweaked it, just a bit. Bram Stoker and Anne Rice already had locked the market on the dark aspect of vampires. Joss Whedon did dark, but campy with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Mayer kept one aspect from each of those, however. The romance.
To all those who think that I love sparkly vampires; it’s not really my thing. But I’m not gonna disparage someone for liking the book series and reading it. I don’t have that right, and neither does anyone else who has never read the book series. The only one who has said something against Twilight that I’ve heard of and respect is Movie Bob from theescapistmagazine.com. He watched the movies as part of his review. But he also read the books. His opinion matters. Anyone who hasn’t read the books, and still comes out complaining should just shut up.
You’re missing the point completely. It’s not about whether or not J. K. Rowling or Stephanie Mayer books will have a longevity like Shakespear (and, sorry, my money is firmly planted on yes they will), it’s about what the books did for people right now.
It got them to read. That’s all that matters.
Until next time…
…keep ‘em flyin’.
Zodi hijack
Okay we all knew this was coming. Why wouldn’t it? I mean hell Tim just talked about two of the favorites on my list of reading.
And what is the first thing I see when I look at the comments? Someone who clearly missed the point of the blog post. I’m curious. Why on earth would you compare a novelist, yes that is what Stephanie Meyers and J.K Rowlings are, to Joss Whedon?
Okay so he redid Buffy and made it better and Stephanie showed a TEENAGED GIRL falling love. Where is the comparison? She showed a personality type, the shy quiet awkward girl. I’m sorry but no Joss Whedon did not do what Stephanie Meyer did. He took a stereo type in 1992 and made a joke.
I have said previously, yes the Twilight Saga could have been written better, and filled out more. But the concept is sound. What is to say that over thousands of years that Vampires didn’t evolve to make human-like decisions become ‘vegetarians.’ Who wrote the rules of vampires, of which I might add are FICTIONAL beings.
Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll start on Harry Potter.
SEVEN books that mixed the real world with fantasy. You know I think I know another book that did the same thing. The Chronicles of Narnia. The books hardly dealt with anything romantic until the end. Around the time when boys stop thinking that girls have cooties. Putting the children in real life situations, like dances, sport and competition.
OMG THEY ADDED WITCHCRAFT! DEVILS WORK! Did they even read the book? It’s not teaching anything the Bible hasn’t. Transfiguration is the same as transmogrifying. Did Jesus not turn water into wine? So Harry and his friend turned rats into teacup, I fail to see the difference.
Zach makes a good point here as we sit here discussing it. Jesus turning water into wine was a miracle because the water was undrinkable. But Harry turning his rat into cup was different simply because it didn’t benefit everyone. Something I’ve noticed with the world and I know I suffer from it as well. Xenophobia.
Another series that I’d like to point out that I’ve been reading is The Mortal Instrument Series. This book has a brother in love with his sister! Flowers in the Attic did the same thing. It’s books like this that cause controversy that get people to read.
I think the thing that irked me the most about the first comment is the simple fact someone had to gall to take writing a novel and compare it to someone who has never written a novel, at least to my knowledge has only written comic books and screenplays. Same genre yes; same media no.
All in all, I don’t care how shitty a book is, how dramatic it may be or how it portrays the female character to be weak and submissive. It gets to kids to read and that the important part. Here lemme repeat it:
IT GETS KIDS TO READ!
Keep it real and rockin’
The Way I See It: The Pendulum Swings
The pendulum does like to swing, that is for certain.
As a Canadian witnessing politics in America, it’s interesting to see certain patterns. Always toward the end of a president’s term, certain media outlets will cry fowl, in a hope to turn the opinion of the voting public. At the same time, other groups will sing praises for said president. The rest of us just like to go out and blame the media for the shortcomings that take place.
That’s happening right now. With ‘Tea Parties’ taking place across the U.S. crying foul against Obama’s plans, right from the stimulus package on down to health care. Republican groups like to disparage the Canadian example of health care, saying it doesn’t work at all. While it does have it’s problems (no system is perfect), I think I made my own point when I said Canadian health care won’t work in the States.
There’s also the problem that some people don’t realize. Attempting to classify a political ideology with an economic one. Such as Democracy with Capitalism. Or a Dictatorship with Socialism (or Communism). Democratic governments with socialist views do exist and do work in the world. Not perfectly, but they do work. From a governmental level, we have social programs in place that help people in need. Examples can be brought forward of those exploiting the system for their own benefit, and those can be found in both the public and in government offices. Is that the problem of the program? No, it’s the fault of the person, and that person should be punished as is the case with the law. In Canada, social programs have been in effect for decades, since the Dirty Thirties as a matter of point in fact (those would be the 1930′s). Those programs over the years have had to evolve. Some for the better, some not so much. But each of these programs had to evolve. And they will still have to evolve and change as the years go by. Social attitudes and norms will always change how we look at things. And social programs will have to change to adapt.
Such as gay marriage. You can debate that to your hearts content, but right now the movement is to see the legalization and recognition of same sex marriage throughout Canada. Alberta being the last bastion against that. All the arguments can be brought up against same sex marriage; biblical, natural order, so on and so forth. But it’s not going to mean a thing to those who have a different outlook on life, and different ideologies.
The same can be said for the way health care is treated. Is Canada’s system better than the States? No. Is the States better than Canada’s? No.
P
robably by now most of you are saying huh? But when you look at each system, Canada’s works as best it can for Canadians. Not every Canadian will get covered 100% of the time, but in many cases it’s there when we need it. In a similar sense, the U.S. system works as best as it can. But from the point of view of Canadians, it’s pretty screwed up.
Right now the pendulum has swung the other way, and there’s questions if Obama will be elected to a second term. Right wing voices happen to be very loud right now, but are they in the majority? 
The same news groups that praised Bush, now slam Obama, and vice versa. From up here, it’s rather entertaining in a way, because we see some of the benefits, and some of the downsides, and don’t understand why the battle continues. For health care, there’s arguments for both points of view, and those can be found easily, and said much better than I can.
I wonder, though, how many in the States realize how much of a socialist nation Canada is in comparison.
Until next time…
…keep ‘em flyin’.
The Way I See It: Dubious nature of journalism
There’s a whole lot of finger pointing as of late, from both sides of the circus that is media. Liberals accusing conservatives and conservatives name calling (let’s call a rose a rose here). Long gone are the days of actual reporting. You know the kind. The kind of reporting that just gives me the facts from both sides of an issue and lets me the reader/viewer form my own opinion. No no, now we have to have opinion in my newscasts. Really, I couldn’t give a crap.
The Internet has blessed us and cursed us in this day and age. Legitimate sites that are created to report news (even the crappy entertainment sites which have no bearing on the real world because I really don’t care what Linday Lohan is doing or not doing this week) are competing with sites that have a good name, but don’t really report anything, but manage to opine their way through so called articles of news.
One of these happens to be canadafreepress.com. I went there because my fast typing fingers and my ever quick punch of the enter key missed the part where I wanted Canadian Free Press, one of many national news agencies that distributes news to radio, television and newspaper outlets. Canad Free Press does all it can to wave the maple leaf, but really, it’s an American Right Wing Editorial machine. The top heading, or slogan reads “Without America there would be no free world.” Really? Let’s be honest here, most Canadians don’t think that way. We like our neighbours to the south, but we wish they’d be a little quieter and stop having temper tantrums. We’re moving along just fine, thank you, without the American Editorial propaganda machine marching along to try and suck us in.
Yeah, we’ve got conservatives up here, but to be perfectly honest, our staunchest right winger is more socialist than anything that comes out of the States. We think differently than a great deal of Americans. We have very different values.
And we report news. Actual news. Not rehashed editorial opinion crap.
canadafreepress.com, you’d have done a lot better had you used a dot.ca name instead of a dot.com name. Then, I think I might have taken the whole thing a lot more seriously. Add to it that out of the several articles I skipped through (because I just went direct to the author bio after a while), only one was from Canada. The other tip off was the fact that out of the whole nation, Toronto was the only city mentioned. Now, unless this site was from Toronto, then I would expect this, as Toronto feels it’s the center f the universe. But not even an article from Quebec. Sorry, you lose again. Canada has two official languages, and I am proud to say they are French and English. REAL Canadian news sites would have the option of a French language link. REAL Canadian news sites would not so blatantly alienate our Francophone brothers and sisters. Unless of course, it’s written by members of the extreme right wing that would love to get rid of French completely.
I think that sites like this even make American news agencies look bad. Among the “sister sites” listed happen to be a few from other countries. I’m talking Asian countries.
I admit, I do love opinion and debate as much as news. But for sites like canadafreepress.com, please, show some integrity and stop hiding an American ideal behind a Canadian flag. You only make yourself look foolish and do a disservice to American journalists.
Newspapers and Zombies
Brent Hamilton has a good point in his most recent rant on the differences between East and West, and to an extent between daily and weekly newspapers and even the internet. I present to you his argument. Now, just watch out for Zombies. Brent Hamilton, by the way, is a Saskatchewan based columnist and baseball expert. He can dissect a game on the diamond with precision and knows the ins and outs of the history of the grand ol’ game. From the White Sox to the Red Sox, Bull Duram and the Jays and everything in between.
Who needs newspapers anyway? Today I have read that if Zombies attack Canada we have no possible chance of survival and that our digested flesh will fertilize the ground for zombie plants to flourish. I always had heard that protein was the worst thing that you could compost with? Eggshells and plant clippings but not livers poisoned with six decades of single malt scotch abuse…but are these new Zombies?
Do they not only chew on us like Vibank beef jerky but also soak up some unknown super powers from the soil that is overflowing with our defiled corpses and then draw strength from the rotting process that is somehow likened to an osmosis style of fermentation that fuels their lust for zombie munchies? Sympatico is like the info from the Walkerton News – only more current and not so heavily edited by a narcissistic editor with a mind too focused on his own lust for a journalistic junk pile and his version of “real news”. How terribly unfair of Sympatico to suggest such a travesty? Let alone the vaunted Walkerton News?? The bottom line is that we are indeed very removed from the rest of the confederacy-until we shut off the oil. When they come weeping for gasoline we can discuss what it is to be a nation and when they whine about their Leafs we can tell them about Balsillie and how Hamilton happens to rhyme with my own mane.
How foolish of this rag’s news boss to not intervene what with his famed genius? Help me. Help him. He always made me think of Stephen Hawking. It might be time to adjust my Internet home page to steer clear of such doom and simply read the infantile ramblings of the Walkerton paper for the definitive coverage on flesh eating monsters from the realm of the un-dead. I defer to the experts on dead news. Here’s to the head zombie. You know who you are. In the words of all of us uninformed Western nitwits, we pray for Walkerton to save us. In other words we are doomed to the words of these fools. I say “these fools”: in a general sense because I KNOW that the enterprise is crammed full of talent and character. You would have hoped that such a prominent editor would be in tune with the invasion of the walking dead?
It has come to my attention that the news from the desks of our supposed brethren from Upper Canada contains all of the critical information that not only defies the Tsunami of Internet bulletins but also organizes it into legible journalism that even us Western hillbillies can disseminate. We should line up to thank them in person except for the obvious exposure to attacking Zombies. I personally would die to get my point across.
Despite all of my hero worship of our glorious National media coverage- what in the love of the baby Jesus do they know about Zombies or the fact that the West has been laid to waste by bleary eyed pancreas eating monsters? Do they know or ever care about the voting process involved in the award of the Hank Aaron Trophy and more importantly, do they even comprehend what this precious accolade might involve? Get focused people. Ontario is not the Universe and today-for me-it has become a black hole. Do you know about sports or just the laughable Jays and Leafs? Of course this is not about brain dead zombies-unless we are speaking about a certain someone. We know about the issue.
It’s not about Zombies or baseball-it’s about the Internet and the self promoting high profile publications that deny the input of the local scribe that digs out the dirt that matters to YOUR community. It often occurs to me that the Nation’s daily publications simply defer to the Associated Press or Reuters or the devil Internet to fill their pages in a shortcut to providing the real news. It’s a terminal disease folks. Without writers that care about your town and then take the time to research the values and concerns of what affects your day to day life, then we are all doomed to a pitiful existence of tabloid garbage that we can buy for less loot than the Walkerton News for instance. It turns out the only zombie is in Walkerton and is employed as an egomaniac described to me directly as the voice of reason for Ontario journalism. Poor Ontario.
In almost every case, talented local columnists are very hard working dedicated and creative writers that are hamstrung by editors that are too often corporate lackeys and sycophants that serve and protect their own positions to supply what you think that you want to read. It is my first hand experience to unfold the truth to you valuable readers that out here in the Wild West, the truth-the news and the sports will be told whether the East likes it or not. There is no denying that our local editors and publishers must accommodate news that pertains to their local interests and anything beyond those parameters only wastes ink. But in the end we are one- and we defy the voice of a specific Eastern editor that considers us to be irrelevant and unworthy. We are not the Internet or the computer replica of the Associated Press and we belong on your kitchen table while we heat our homes with the rest of the papers from the likes of the waste of paper from the likes of the Walkerton Press. Our news is what counts and the rest of what we truly need to know we can easily garner from better sources than folks that consider us beneath them. We learn what we need to know and we discard the rest. The marvelous and talented of my mentors and editors of the weekly papers that indulge my thoughts only do so to satisfy your deserving tastes of the world’s news and sports as you need to know it. Nothing more, nothing less and only what is worthy news.
From Fort Murray to Indian Head and everywhere in between we thank our local publications for their efforts and honest reporting.
Brent Hamilton
