I got up early this morning and am feeling all stabbie.
I’m fairly fed up with draconian laws written by clueless members of Congress that affect our daily lives.
As a response to the THREAT of Minors Ordering Cigarettes Online the “The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009” went into effect on June 29th.
The all encompassing Act of Rampant Stupidity has made it impossible for family members to send smokes to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Whatever your take on smoking, these people are in places where they can’t just hop into the APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) and head to the Quickie Mart to pick up smokes and a Slurpee.
Oops!
I’m going to go all wacko Libertarian this morning… W. T. F. Only Congress would consider legislation as a means to stomp out what I assume is an epidemic of 9-year-old Marlboro Tykes.
If these budding growth stunted fiends are ordering cigarettes on line, this legislation is not going to stop them. Selling cigarettes to minors is ALREADY ILLEGAL. How the hell do they pay for their tobacco? Is Justin Bieber running a secret Cabal of Prepubescent Bankers?
This law is another example of why I really think that we need to get rid of every member of Congress and replace them with a cadre of elected typing monkeys.
That’s it. Rant over. I’ll be back later to actually blog about serious stuff.
I am on a quest… and of course I have built a framework around my quest that would make Joseph Campbell proud. Mythical in scope and Heroic in magnitude. I want to make thinking critically, cool and sexy and hip. I want walk through the mall and see people wearing T-shirts proclaiming “I think, before I do”. The back of the T-shirt could have a checklist – I Think Before I:
- Vote
- Make A Purchase
- Drive While Chatting/Texting On My Cellphone
- Have Unprotected Sex
- Make Generalizations
- Buy a Beige Buick
- Wear Cheetah Print Spandex
You get the idea… I think that Thinking has gone out of style. We emote, we feel things, we make snap judgments, we hope and we wish things were different. But we don’t actually think. Imagine if you will… a world where people THINK….
<cue the Native American Flute Music and fog machine>
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:27
I love this verse in the Bible. “Male and Female he created them.” Long before the Lord began performing psychic surgery, he created man and woman and they were created equal. According to the Mishra, the first female was a chick named Lilith. Lilith should be the patron saint of all women with a sense of identity and independence. Rather than submit… she chose to become a soul sucking, baby eating winged demon. The moral I’m guessing is supposed to be: Nice Girls are a side item at Shane’s Rib Shack and Bad Girls are really, really bad. If I ever get a divorce, the LSH (Long Suffering Husband) is going to have more to worry about than Alimony.
Once Adam gets done whining and tattling to God about Lilith and how she was nothing like his first girl friend, the sheep… he begins to whine about being alone. So God in an effort to shut him up tries again… this time he creates EVE. Meek helpmate and eternal bottom to Adam’s Top. But sadly, Eve too is cursed with a mind of her own. She talks to a snake, and decides that she would rather have knowledge then sit around waiting for Adam to come home from a long day of naming the Paramecium and the Spores. I’m guessing she grew bored… The Real Housewives of Eden apparently have a tendency to think for themselves. So Eve eats, gives Adam a bite and when God asks… “What the crap?” Adam points the finger of blame on Eve.
God says… “Hey, in return for being able to THINK and make MORAL choices about good and evil, you are going to have to ride the cotton pony for a few days a month AND you will have pain during childbirth. I’ll throw in some Oxytocin to help you get over that but don’t tell Adam or I will have to listen to his descendants whine about women not knowing their places for eternity. The first half of the 21st century will be particularly annoying.”
As an aside, I am grateful… we would not have Shoes if Eve had been content to lay flat on her back and think of what lay East of Eden while Adam did his business.
Today’s post is all about women, scary, women at that.
Things that go ‘Bump’ in the Night
I am a fan of Folklore. I love stories. And in reading stories of old, I came to the realization very early on that the things that scare men the most are: Women. Medusa, Circe, The Mara (from which we get the word NIGHTMARE), Witches, Hera, Lamia, Chimeras… you are getting the picture I’m sure. Find me a hero and I will tell you all about the Woman or Women who scared the crap out of him.
Keep reading…
I love being a Skeptic. I love telling jokes where the punch line is an obscure mathematical formula. I have a fetish for knowledge. I attend conventions like TAM and find that I am like a sane version of Michelle Belanger without the pathetic posturing and coy hints about an alternative sexuality. I am rejuvenated by the *energy* at events where I am surrounded by my people. (I don’t mean that in a literal way, so don’t send me any messages about energy vampires)
Lately though, I’ve taken to thinking about the opposition and I must admit that I think we are deluding ourselves. If history is any kind of indicator we are in a crap load of trouble. While we are laughing it up in our little circles, the barbarians are at the gate and while they are not smart enough to build a Trojan Horse; there are a lot of them.
The Bitter Taste of Swallowed Pride
As Skeptics, Humanists, Rationalists, Atheists, or “Thinking Folk” we are a smug lot. We are certain to a one that what we do is important, and that it is the unwashed masses that need to be educated. We have a calling, a pursuit of wisdom, a desire to right wrongs. I am going to go out on a limb and say that if History has taught us anything, it is that the first people who are tossed on the fires of Revolution are the thinkers, the ‘others’, those who the unwashed masses considered elitist.
I spent a significant part of this weekend arguing with the LSH and the Boy about Willful or Wanton Ignorance. I’ve decided that they are both insane and that I need to get another cat to offset the nuttiness. Cats are actually great skeptics and I am sure that the Kitty Committee will agree with everything that I am planning to write today.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” Albert Einstein
This weekend on “The Situation Room” Bill Maher made a wonderful comment about this “Stupid Country”. I have to admit that I was fairly irritated by the way that Wolf Blitzer squirmed in his chair with glee (no doubt he was excited at the thought of all the ‘stupid people’ watching his show who would take the time to send emails or tweets in outrage) when he asked Maher if he wanted to clarify what he meant…
We as a country are actually becoming ‘stupider’ make no mistake. Want proof?
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