Keeping the Sabbath Holy: July 31, 2011

The shootings in Norway were extremely tragic. No one disagrees with this.

However, the right-wing reaction in the United States was absolutely disgusting.

The shooter in the 2011 attacks in Norway.

Where're the political posts?

You'll notice that I haven't posted much political stuff recently. Why? Because I vowed not to give into "debt ceiling hysteria." I've realized that, every summer, there's some new madness in the American political system that is:

1. Frustrating beyond comprehension
2. Riddled with (right-wing) lies
3. Given way too much airtime by the media

Think about it. In 2008, there was the hysteria over Barack Obama. In 2009, there was the hysteria over the so-called "death panels" (that didn't actually exist). In 2010, there was the "ground zero mosque" (which was neither at Ground Zero nor was a mosque) hysteria. Well, now it's the summer of 2011 and this month's issue seems to be the debt ceiling.*

Enough about ceilings!

"Escape from Puppy Death Factory"

As many of you know, I'm not exactly a big gamer. However, when I get my hands on a good game, I can get pretty addicted. A few days ago, I found this little known online Flash game called "Escape from Puppy Death Factory". It sounded kind of strange at first - but I was hooked. Check it out here.

Definite classic status.

Fresh Friday, 7/22

Let's go.

Having a Tumblr page does not make you a blogger.

I'm not one to desire a hierarchy of bloggers. I don't think that Matt Yglaesias is inherently higher up on some scale than some random Daily Kos diarist. I'm not saying that Matt's writing won't surpass most people's (including mine!), but I don't think it's right to necessarily say that he inherently deserves more credit due to his popularity. One of the great values of the Internet stems from its ability to bring new, lesser-heard voices to the forefront.

However, I still have some qualms about Tumblr.

Tumblr is a relatively new website that have generated millions of new users.

Izzy Kornblatt speaks the truth about the Republican Party.

A good friend of mine and the author of the Concrete Aspirations blog, had a piece in the Hartford Courant the other day. It focused on the extremism within the Republican Party. I've discussed this theme before, but he lays down a great argument. Check it out:

There is an assumption in the minds of countless Americans and many journalists that fair political thinking means acknowledging the legitimacy of the viewpoints of both of America's major political parties. For decades, each of these parties sought to improve our nation by following its principles and ideals, and so such an assumption made sense. 

After all, both parties drew upon legitimate theories and arguments, and both had essentially the same goal: to make America a safe, prosperous and happy nation. 

But that was a long time ago. This is 2011, and everything is different.

Bachmann, a serious candidate.

News Snap - New Lonely Island, New 2NE1 music videos!

투애니원 (2NE1) - "UGLY":

An interesting concept, to say the least.

The Lonely Island - "Threw It On The Ground":

Well-executed.

Sex on campuses is not the real issue.

This sums up what I've been trying to say for ages:

The problem isn’t hooking up, it’s that hooking up is the only way of being sexual that my students see as an option. There were no counter-messages. Students who are deeply religious feel entirely unsupported in their desire to remain virgins till marriage. Students who want relationships, but not casual sex, are seen as fuddy duddies: old fashioned and possibly repressed. Students who are interested in polyamory, love-based sexual relationships with more than one person, are seen as simply weird. A feminist perspective on sex is essentially invisible, especially any real discussion of women’s pleasure. And hookup culture is decidedly heterocentrist; there is no room for same-sex exploration, unless it was women faking it to attract men.

Exactly right.

Openness on sexuality on college campuses has been compromised by societal norms.

From Door-Holding to Meal-Paying

Similar to yesterday's post concerning the feminist position on door-holding comes another question: who should pay for the meal?

If a heterosexual male takes a female out for a dinner date, should he pay for her?

As I stated before, last week's post was similar and has an applicable lesson:

I do think people should hold the door for each other and such - I just do not think that their motivation should be out of pity for “the weaker sex”. I am not sure why this is controversial.

Equality just isn't that difficult.

Door-Holding Controversy

Interestingly enough, I consistently receive a single question about feminism. While it seems pretty insignificant in the long run, it's questions like that that do end up turning a lot of people away from the concept of feminism. It goes something like this:

If a heterosexual male takes a female out on a date, should he hold the door for her?

I think it helps to pose a different scenario: this heterosexual male and another individual (for the sake of the argument, the stranger will be male) arrive at a door together. Would the heterosexual male not open it for him, because he is a male and he, as a self-proclaimed heterosexual male, presumably has no romantic or sexual interest in him?

The way life should be.

Keeping The Sabbath Holy: July 24, 2011

Whenever I discuss the irrationality of religion with people, they respond by pointing out that places of worship and religious organizations do a lot of good. I don't see why this is any sort of appropriate response.

Religious groups can do good things, but it doesn't make religion logical.

FIghting common misconceptions about undocumented immigrants.

Recently, a good friend of mine wrote post on her Tumblr page entitled, "Fuck Illegal Immigrants". I don't agree with it at all, but I believe it lays down an argument that millions of Americans buy into every year. It raises a lot of common misconceptions and right-wing talking points that bleed every single national debate on immigration. Check it out:

I’m not racist, and I’m not judgmental. But I am sick of all of these border hoppers coming to the United States and taking our land, jobs, scholarships, etc. Then we got these asshole people who like to try and legalize all of these immigrants and make it okay for them to be here. Personally, if you ask me. They should all go back to where they belong. I’m not saying that white people don’t cause problems and they don’t break laws or commit crimes. BUT, there are more Black/Hispanic people committing crimes in the United States and making this country shittier than it already is. This being a “free country” doesn’t mean you can do whatever the hell you please. There are laws, just like where you’re from, and there are also consequences.

I clearly find many parts of her post problematic, but, before I address those, let's take a look at some hard facts. The rate of illegal immigration has been declining over the past few years. Violence on the boarder to Mexico is at a 30 year low. Only 6 out of 10 undocumented immigrants are actually from Mexico. Most undocumented immigrants, aside from illegally entering the country, are not criminals.

The border between U.S./Mexico is the focus of huge controversy in the immigration debate.

News Snap - Amy Winehouse found dead at 27.

Today, Amy Winehouse died. She was 27 years old. Alyssa Rosenburg over at ThinkProgress wrote what a lot of us are thinking:

I just saw the news that British singer Amy Winehouse died in her home today. I’m crushed, but I’m not surprised. As I wrote early in 2010:

It’s been very difficult for me to watch Courtney Love and Amy Winehouse fall apart. Both Celebrity Skin and Back to Black came out at times when it felt like I needed precisely that record, the blast of independence and disdain, the decision to manage grief by dressing it up and embracing it. I trust both of these manifestly unreliable women because at one point, they gave me something I needed, before I could even articulate that I needed it…And so I want Amy Winehouse and Courtney Love to be there for me, to anticipate that next moment of great musical need. What a fool I am.

Amy Winehouse spent much of her life battling addictions that the music industry first treated as signs of sexy defiance and later as a massive and inexplicable waste of her talent. I had given wanting or expecting more music, and simply held out vain hope she wouldn’t die.

There was no "foul play", according to Scotland Yard. Rest in peace, Amy.

September 14, 1983 - July 23, 2011.

Fresh Friday, 7/22

F.
R.
E.
S.
H.

Let's do it.

Conservative teabaggers and their teabagging rallies.

With all of this debt ceiling nonsense going on - wait, pause. Why has Bloody Shrubbery not been covering that? Because, frankly, it's all theater. The Democrats either want to raise the limit or they want to invoke the Constitutional option. (I much prefer the latter, but I could live with the former.) The Republicans are split between listening to their corporate masters on Wall Street (who want the debt ceiling raised) and giving more attention to their base - the teabaggers. However, which group do you think gives the Republicans more money? Exactly - the Republicans and Democrats will come to some sort of conclusion in the nick of time and everyone will hate it.

Average teabagger.

BUT, I digress: with all of this debt ceiling nonsense going on, the teabaggers have been in the news once again. However, nothing drives them more crazy than people calling them by what they originally referred to themselves as - teabaggers. But, why do I insist on calling them that?

First, The Week has a great timeline in the conservative terminology of teabagger:

Feb. 27, 2009
At the first anti-stimulus "New American Tea Party" rally in Washington D.C., a protestor carries a sign reading "Tea Bag the Liberal Dems before they Tea Bag You!!" The Washington Independent's David Weigel calls it "the best sign I saw."

March 2
Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax group, is one of the first Tea Party organizations to advocate sending tea bags to elected officials to protest the stimulus package. Several other lobby groups follow suit. 

April 1
Several Tea Party protest sites encourage readers to "Tea bag the fools in DC." Jay Nordlinger at National Review Online later admits: "Conservatives started [using the term]... but others ran and ran with it."

Political Hack asks if liberals are secretly sexist, yet implies are right-wingers are.

Conservatives recently have been trying a new tactic. Instead of defending themselves against accusations of bigotry, bigot-baiting, or enabling bigotry, they've decided to pretend as if liberals are the bigots! Trickery, trickery!

This time up? Liberals are sexist! Or…so says some hack named Charlie Daniels over at NewsBusters:

The fact that the American left is deathly afraid of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann can be interpreted in several different ways.

For those of you who don't know, wingnuts have this "theory" that progressives don't like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann because we are afraid of them. While I admit that some people can go overboard, I think it's because they see Palin and Bachmann as easy targets. Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, and Glenn Beck are also extremely easy targets, too. I don't think that makes me sexist against…both sexes. Furthermore, I've seen a ton of hatred by right-wingers toward Rachel Maddow and Nancy Pelosi. Does Charlie Daniels find those attacks to be sexist, as well?

Charlie Daniels' implies that conservatives are afraid of Nancy Pelosi. Word.

News Snap - 2NE1 releases music video for "HATE YOU"

Barely one day after releasing the Japanese version of "I Am The Best", 투애니원 (2NE1) has dropped yet another music video:

In my view, this was an interesting way for the girls to incorporate the album artwork into their music videos. It faintly reminded me of the old Cartoon Network series Totally Spies, except way more violent. I'm not really sure how this goes along with the lyrics of the song, but I trust YG to do a good job.

News Snap - 2NE1's Japanese Version of "I AM THE BEST" drops!

As planned, the Japanese version of "I AM THE BEST" by 투애니원 (2NE1) was released only a few moments ago. Check it out:

Pretty sleek, eh?

I am "BLUEBERRY" - On breast cancer, social networking activism, and effectiveness.

If you have seen someone's status with a fruit in it, then you have witnessed a part of the latest attempt to raise awareness of breast cancer:

...We are playing a game. Someone proposed that we GIRLS do something special on Facebook to help with Breast Cancer Awareness. Its easy, and Id like you to join us to help it spread. Last year it was... ...about writing the color of the bra that your were wearing in your Fb status and it left men wondering for days why the girls had random colors as their status. This year it has to do with your relationship status. You will where you are, by posting one of the codes below. Remember DO NOT REPLY,JUST POST IN YOUR STATUS ON YOUR WALL TO CONFUSE THE GUYS. Then invite all your female friends to join this event

News Snap - Herman Cain attacks Mitt Romney over his religion.

Herman Cain has a lot of issues to deal with. As I've blogged about, he has a credibility issue, a foreign policy issue, and an issue with Muslims. Mere minutes ago, Think Progress and the Washington Post revealed that he also has an issue with Mormonism.

There's no way he can win. Sorry, right-wing blogosphere!

Commentary thanks to ThinkProgress:

In an editorial board interview with the Washington Times, Herman Cain expanded at length on why he believed Mitt Romney could not beat Barack Obama. Among other factors, Cain noted that Romney has not done “a good job of explaining his religion,” which he asserted would be a major liability in the South. Cain said the fact that Romney is a Mormon “doesn’t bother me,” but “it is an issue with a lot of southerners.”

Video thanks to the Washington Post:

On Women's Magazines and Sanity

Whenever someone brings up women's magazines, I cannot help but scoff a bit. Why do I not advise people to read women’s magazines?

There are a number of reasons why, however an excellent blog post by Vered DeLeeuw sums it up better than I could, in a post entitled, “Why I Stopped Reading Women’s Magazines”:

1. Retouching: Women’s magazines publish ads and fashion spreads featuring super-thin, airbrushed-to-perfection young models. Women of all ages feel inadequate when they compare themselves to these unrealistic images. 

2. Women’s magazines tell women that they should let men be in charge. 'Letting him see your vulnerable side will bring him closer because it unlocks his instincts to take care of you. So give him chances to take charge, and thank him after he does.' 

3. Women’s magazines subtly convey the message that getting married is a woman’s most important goal, then proceed to teach women tricks that would help them achieve that goal. 'He still hasn’t proposed? This famous recipe might do the trick'. 

It's more about a culture of problems, than of one specific item.

News Snap - Herman Cain says communities should be able to ban Islam.

After pledging against appointing any Muslims in a presidential cabinet, many people believed Herman Cain had a problem with Islam. While he has tried (unsuccessfully) to backtrack, many were still left with the feeling that he has a discriminatory attitude toward Muslims.

They were right.

Hermain Cain, there's more to the Constitution than the Second Amendment.

Keeping The Sabbath Holy: July 17, 2011

I often hear an interesting argument in favor of religion. It goes like this: no one has evidence whether God truly exists. However, if God is not real, then religionists may have wasted their time, but there is no real consequence. But, if religion does turn out to be real, then an atheist has a lot to lose.

Here's why this argument is lame.

Here we go again…

Age of Consent in Connecticut 101

"The age at which a person becomes legally competent to consent to […] sexual intercourse." is how Dictionary.com defines "age of consent". What many people do not know, however, is that the age of consent is not 18 in all parts of the United States. (In fact, less than 1/4 of the United States has an age of consent as old as 18 years of age.)

A part of being prepared is knowing the law.

Teenagers do have sex; that's a fact. It's important that they know both the legal standing of where they stand and where their partners stand. I wrote this because I could not find too many accurate, nonjudgemnetal, and objective guides for sexual partners in Connecticut.

From the Feds to the Ministry of Magic.

When there is a heavily popular work of art or entertainment, it's interesting to see peoples' interpretations of the meanings of the events within any given works. That being said, I'm not really a fan of politically interpreting art and entertainment, because much of these dissections are nit-picky and don't represent the point of the original work. There are, however, exceptions.

While I may not be the most adamant fan of the Harry Potter series, Alyssa Rosenburg makes a good case in a recent blog post:

1. Torture is wrong. J.K. Rowling’s adamant that torture and indefinite detention are morally wrong and counterproductive. Barty Crouch, Jr. is a nut, but he’s clearly radicalized and made even crazier by his experience undergoing psychological torture at Azkaban. Sirius Black is imprisoned there without a trial — can you imagine what the punitive damages would be in a wrongful imprisonment case if there were dementors involved? Bellatrix Lestrange’s addiction to torture warps her morally — and she doesn’t get any useful information out of Hermione when she tortures the younger woman at Malfoy Manor. Harry tries torturing people several times, but can’t do it, and in the end, his preference for less coercive tactics helps him beat Voldemort. 

2. Universal health care is pretty much a necessity. Can you imagine what Neville Longbottom’s financial future would be like if he had to pay for his parents’ long-term care at St. Mungo’s? Magic’s an incredibly dangerous business, and whether you’re getting all the bones accidentally removed from your arm or getting bitten by a giant snake, it’s lucky that St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries appears to operate along the same lines as the National Health Service. 

3. Bureaucrats are heroes. Whether it’s Mr. Wealsey’s unheralded service in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, or the lessons of Kingsley Shacklebolt’s time as an auror that made him a strong leader of the Order of the Phoenix, and later, Minister of Magic, bureaucrats are often heroes in Rowling’s universe. When the bureaucracy’s corrupted by people like Dolores Umbridge under Voldemort’s rule, it’s a genuine tragedy. 

Does Harry Potter profess liberal themes?

Fresh Friday, 7/15

After that short mini-vacation, guess who's back?

Today… (Part 2)

For the second (and third!) time since the (re)creation of this blog, I am taking the day off.

Use this time to:

• Like Bloody Shrubbery on Facebook,
• Follow the Bloody Shrubbery Twitter feed,
• Follow my personal Twitter feed, or
• Watch the following video:

Sluts, Whores, and Skanks 101

In this article, I make the case that “virginity” does not exist and that people should be free to make their own sexual decisions. If so, how do I define who is and is not a “whore” or a “slut”?

That’s easy - I don’t.

Paris Hilton: who is anyone to judge?

Corporate compassion, car accidents, and Daesung (대성)

(For the most recent news on the 2011 Daesung car incident, click here, and for the background story, click here.)

The newest development in the on-going drama over the accident involving Daesung of 빅뱅 (BIGBANG) is quite shocking. Yet, ultimately raises more than it answers. Big Bang Updates reports:

On July 10th, the family of the deceased motorcyclist involved in Daesung’s car accident was contacted for an interview with Dispatch News, and it’s been revealed that both the family and YG Entertainment are finding it difficult to reach a compromise. […]

Thus far, YG Entertainment contacted the family only twice. The first time was when YG Entertainment delivered their side of the story. It wasn’t until the second time that both parties were able to share their respective sides. […]

“At first, they said that they would do everything they could. They asked us to trust them, as they would cover for all the funeral costs and hand us funds for compensation. Because they had the name of ‘YG Entertainment’, we believed them. Now that we are actually taking the formal steps to be recompensed, everything has changed. I feel as if we are being ignored.”

Daesung, 22, is the center of a controversial car accident.

Keeping the Sabbath Holy: July 10, 2011

Recently, Gallup released the following poll:

Basically, 22% of the electorate would not vote for a candidate who is Mormon. I'm as anti-religion as they come, but here's why this is total nonsense.

Putting open relationships into context.

As I discussed here, I am a bit of a critic of the current views of monogamy. In fact, I would even goes as far as to call myself an advocate for the option of non-monogamy. A recent conversation with several friends challenged me to clarify my beliefs.

While controversial to some, open relationships are gaining popularity. 

Fresh Friday, 7/8

Time for another edition of weekly freshness.

Webmaster note: how is this .jpg file animated?

Two men, two dogs, and taxes.

On a bright summer day, two men were talking up a storm in the middle of the town. Both men were two of the town's most prominent farmers. The first man was complaining about his dog.

"My dog will eat nothing but steak! It's unbelievable. She's costing me a fortune!" exclaimed the exasperated first man. The second man laughed to himself.

Don't worry, just trust me: I'm going somewhere with this.

India's health minister calls being gay a "disease", Fox News doesn't refute.

Fox News:

India's health minister has outraged activists by calling homosexuality a "disease" and "completely unnatural" during a conference on HIV/AIDS. 

Ghulam Nabi Azad told the conference Monday that it was unfortunate that homosexuality has come to India. He echoed a common refrain in this conservative country that homosexual sex is a Western import. 

Gay sex was illegal in India until 2009 when the Delhi High Court struck down the law that made sex between people of the same gender punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Roughly 2.5 million Indians have HIV, making it the country with the largest number of people living with the disease in Asia.

Casey Anthony was found to be not guilty. Now shut the hell up about it.

As far as I know, I've never blogged about the Casey Anthony trial before. As far as I'm concerned, it is not real news. It has no bearing over public policy or the future. The trial turned more into a Gossip Girl episode than a court case. Furthermore, the story would not have been aired with such regularity if it were a person of color or a part of some other minority group.

After the news that she has been found not guilty, I took to Twitter to vent:

If you "KNOW" that Casey Anthony was guilty, then PROVE it. If you have no evidence then SHUT UP.

I stand by these remarks.

On Thailand, democracy, and the election of Yingluck Shinawatra (ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร).

Last night, I used Twitter to endorse Yingluck Shinawatra for the position of Prime Minister of Thailand. This morning, I congratulated her on her victory. After receiving more negative feedback on social networking sites than I had anticipated, I thought I'd post a few of my thoughts:

• To begin, I am not Thai and I have never been to Thailand. Somehow some people believe that this denotes a lack of legitimacy in anything I say about the election. While they are right in saying that it is different to be on the ground and involved in any given conflict, I do feel that there are certain situations one does not have to be a part of to still comment on. To use an extreme example to illustrate my point, I do not believe that one has to be in the Holocaust to understand why it was bad. Furthermore, as a friend pointed out, "[one's lack of residency in Thailand may mean that one] has a more objective view of the situation."
• As Amnesty International notes, Thaksin Shinawatra (ทักษิณ ชินวัตร) was far from perfect. I'm not mindlessly pro-Thaksin nor am I mindlessly pro-Red Shirt. From what I can see, I would probably be a supporter of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (แนวร่วมประชาธิปไตยต่อต้านเผด็จการแห่งชาติ; นปช), also known as the Red Shirts, if I lived in Thailand. (Since I do not, however, I find pretending to join any foreign political party to be a bit immature.) But, this does not necessarily mean that I will agree with them on every issue or position.
• I have heard both Yellow Shirt and Red Shirt supporters lobbying charges of cheating in the recent election. Until legitimate evidence arises, I find it to be childish to immediately accuse the other side of cheating. Frankly put, baseless claims of cheating undermine democracy.

Thailand's first female Prime Minister.

News Snap - New ThunderCats series coming soon!

This looks amazing:

Keeping the Sabbath Holy: July 3, 2011

As I've blogged about before, my good friend's website, OutOfInspiration.com, engages on a noble quest to provide inspiration to those who do not have it. Who would object to such a respectable goal? Unfortunately, the site often runs religious commentary which is nearly always filled with unfortunate logical and factual errors. I usually keep quiet, but every now and then an article pops up that just needs to be corrected. This is one of those times.

Let's break this down:

Report says nonbelievers [Atheists and Agnostics] know more, on average, about religion than most faithful. Jews and Mormons also score high on the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey…La Times… 

So although this survey wasn’t entirely ingenuous, considering it was conducted off the streets, it is still reasonably discouraging.

While the LA Times did break the story,  it was actually the Pew Research Group who conducted the survey. I think that he meant to say that the survey wasn't "genuine" (I think?), because it was conducted off of the streets - except for the fact that it was not conducted off of the streets. It was a month long poll conducted to over 3,400 Americans using landlines and cell phones.

Leave video game censorship to the parents, not the government.

I was not originally going to post anything about the recent Supreme Court decision that effectively bans censoring video games from people under the age of 18. It had been highly publicized and the reporting had generally been pretty good. It didn't touch on some of the free speech issues that I had hoped, but the media is far from perfect.

Violent video games are not the problem - irresponsible parents are.

Fresh Friday, 7/1

Fresh time.

WorldNetDaily fails at geography, human decency.

Today, Suzanne Venker decided to start off the month with an outrageously sexist article against attempts to end sex discrimination in education. She took aim at both Egalia, an innovative (albeit radical) Swedish school with the purpose of eliminating forced gender roles, and also lessons on gender identity for the purpose of reducing bullying in Oakland High Schools. She did this in the far-right cesspool of WorldNetDaily.

A day doesn't go by where WND doesn't post some demeaning, close-minded bullshit, does it? It's usually inane and nonsensical, but today's was just dumb.