perspective…

Via Curmudgeonly & Skeptical…

Reality of Iraq, minus the emotion.

U.N.believable

Claims of corruption in the U.N. are nothing but racist harassment, according to the perpetrator.

Le-e-e-e-t the-e-e-e-re be pea-ea-ea-ea-ce on earth,
And let it make ca-a-a-a-a-sh for me…

now i’ve done it

I started a blog dialog a while back with another blogger. We’re on opposite sides of several issues, but I thought there was a mutually respectful exchange.

Apparently, something I said was not considered respectful. I challenged his logic on a specific issue. He posted a response, which I saw…but then he deleted the post and my response. And now I am banned from commenting.

If you comment on my blog, even argumentively, I will not ban you. I will only edit comments if they are grossly vulgar, and I have a pretty open mind as to what is vulgar.

If the internet is supposed to allow the free exchange of thoughts and ideas, please don’t block me. I’m not a vicious ideologue, and I only challenge what I see as extreme thoughts from otherwise non-extreme authors.

Nazis and other extremists ban the logical discussion of opposing thought.

global smarming

Scientists are warning residents of the southwestern U.S. that things are going to get dicey there as climate change accelerates. Drought-prone areas are likely to have even lower rainfall rates in the immediate future.

And on what basis are these predictions being made?

Historical patterns, previous droughts.

You can’t have it both ways, people. Either we are causing something new and alarming, or earth is going through a cycle that has happened before (many times) , and will happen again (world without end, amen, amen).

Makes me want to buy a palette of hair spray and just let it rip in the back yard.

innocent until proven…no, just guilty

The end game on the Scooter Libby trial brought up a discussion topic with someone yesterday…

“You know he’s taking the heat for Carl Rove’s crime.”

Really? I hadn’t taken a close enough look at the evidence to make that charge.

“If it isn’t Rove, it’s Cheney.”

Based on…?

“Well, it’s just obvious.”

I’m no legal expert; I don’t even play one on TV. But I seem to recall that there is this concept we once held dear that people in this country are presumed innocent until proven guilty. I understand that the precept has not always been applied to all groups, but why is it that anyone associated with the current administration is assumed to be guilty of every offense charged?

There’s another point that people keep skipping over in the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson thing – was she covert at the time the news came out? I know, she wasn’t once the news broke; but there is a list maintained by the CIA of covert and non-covert personnel. The reason no one has been punished over the leak itself is because no one with any authority claims she was on the Covert list. It is dangerous and stupid to ever identify someone who has previously been officially covert; but it is not illegal. If stupidity were grounds for prosecution, I fear we would all be facing some serious prison time.

Think I’ll get some soap on a rope in case the law changes.

fat bottom girls…

…you make the rockin’ world go ’round, or so sang Freddy Mercury.

According to some, Eddie Murphy’s portrayal of Rasputia in Norbit may have cost him his Best Supporting Oscar for Dreamgirls. The NPR story linked above claims that he was a shoe-in for the Oscar, but for the unfortunate timing of the release of Norbit.

Oddly, Murphy’s slap-on-the-wrist is supposed to come from the same racist group that has misportrayed and stereotyped women of color even before Hattie McDaniel told us what she did and didn’t know about “birthin’ no babies” in Gone With the Wind.

Okay, as long as we’re going to demand that Hollywood stop with the stereotypes, I have a few demands:

• Heavy-set white guys: We are either idiotic comic relief (with apologies to the late John Candy and Chris Farley), or we are rednecks. Not since Ernest Borgnine played Marty in 1955 has there been a decent role for the fat white guy. Which dude had to squeal like a pig in Deliverance? I rest my case.
• Bald(ish) guys: With very few exceptions, we the folicly-challenged are relegated to the role of the sinister villain type person. And if you are bald and fat, you’re doomed.
• Christians: Either total hypocrites, or there strictly for comic relief

I demand an immediate end to this making-fun thing.

Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not. -Vaclav Havel