Burn my Bra?! Do Have Any Idea What They Cost?

First of all, bra burning never happened***. Yes, feminists did protest the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. Yes, some of the women did remove their bras as part of the protest. However, no bras were harmed in the process.

Now that we have that out of the way, someone claims to have set back feminism 100 years. (h/t to [redacted]). No, it is not Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman.

No doubt the title is somewhat grandiose, but if you are one of those people prone to burning bras on your lunch hour, this post might cinch your girdle (sorry, had to).

Do you have any idea what my bras cost? I'm a 32C. That is a size that is impossible to find outside of Victoria's Secret. Even during the Semi Annual Sale, I'm dropping between $20 and $30 per bra. (A good portion of my tax return goes to this every year.) I would set my pants on fire, while I was wearing them, before I did anything to my bras. I'm also not entirely certain what a girdle is, I'm guessing I don't own one, and puns are the last refuge of the boring mind.

In an effort to educate myself about poetry, I have been going through Francis Mayes’ book The Discovery of Poetry. Fear not, this post will not discuss anapestic tetrameter, iambs, or dactylic pentameter. No indeed. My aim is to call attention to something Ms. Mayes says in her chapter on rhyme. As she discusses different types of rhyme, Mayes defines rising and falling rhymes, pointing out that,

“Formerly, these were dubbed ‘masculine’ (strong, stressed ending) and ‘feminine’ (soft, unstressed ending) but I simply forbid that terminology.” (Harcourt paperback, pg 165)

I am going to venture a guess that Ms. Mayes feels labeling something strong as masculine, and something soft as feminine is sexist. Now, the question is, do I, as a twenty-first century woman feel threatened by rhymes given masculine/feminine terminology?

I don't think anyone felt "threatened" by rhyming terminology, sweetheart*. However, every little bit of a culture sinks into your psyche before you're even aware of it. Every time somebody says, "You throw/scream/whatever like a girl!" every girl in hearing distance absorbs the intended message: it's bad to be like a girl. It's especially unforgiveable in supposed learned texts wherein we ought to be a little beyond "like a girl!"

Why? Because I am a girl. I want to be soft. And I do not feel that being soft in any way degrades me. Being feminine is only degrading if you are not female.

Being feminine is only degrading if you are not female? I'd parse that, but I'm afraid to. Let's try a little substitution, shall we, darling? Perhaps that will make things clearer. Being black is only degrading if you are not black. Um, no, that didn't help. Being Jewish is only degrading if you are not . . . that definitely did not help. At all.

Do you want to know what is degrading?

Do tell.

Being told I have to act and feel the same as a man.

Nobody ever said that. What we said is that women and men are equal and the thoughts of women and men are equally important and should be equally valued.

Being told I have to be promiscuous to be independent.

Who said that?

Being told I have to be independent.

You don't have to be independent. Depend all you want. However, women, being inherently equal to men, should have all the same opportunities for independence that men do.

Being told I have to dress like a discount harlot to be attractive to men.

Sweetheart, that's the fashion industry, which is not the same thing as feminism. At all.

Being told giving birth to a child I conceived is a choice if it gets in the way of the above statements.

It's a choice in any case, not that anyone makes it in order to "dress like a harlot". (And if anyone does choose to abort in order to keep wearing miniskirts, do you really think that person should be anywhere near a child?)

Being told that serving is belittling.

What she means is that she wants to be (or is) a stay at home mom, and that all women everywhere should be stay at home moms. Men can be husbands, fathers and doctors, lawyers, professors, astronauts and presidents, but women have only one career- staying at home. If that's what you want to do, and can afford to do, good for you. It's not for everyone, nor should it be required for everyone. Nor is it even possible for everyone.

Being told that being a wife, or a wife and mother is not adequate employment for one lifetime.

See above.

Being told that being under a man’s authority is slavery.

By definition.

Being told all men are degenerate idiots.

Being told marriage and Alcatraz are the same thing, only spelled differently.

You know, if you're going to try to "set feminism back", you might try finding out what feminists actually believe. The vast majority of feminists in the US are married- to men. If we really thought men were degenerate idiots and that marriage is like a tourist spot off the coast of California**, why would we marry men, or marry at all? In fact, feminists are fighting for the right of gays to marry each other, so we're fighting for more marriage. If we really thought that marriage was so bad, why would we want more of it?

For you next book, I'm going to suggest something on the topic of logic and reasoned thinking.

*I've gone jäger, and I'm never coming back!

**It's worth the trip, if you get the chance.

***I am told there was one symbolic bra burning, but it only happened once, and that was that. Probably because having your breasts jouncing around while you walk is not a comfortable experience, not even when they're small like mine.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

Apparently, the Empire* will have to give mandatory analogy classes to the entire freakin' Earth, because if this happens after I'm in charge, the frenzied apologies will in no way delay the punishment to follow. Let's just say the author will receive a stunningly complete education on exactly how fast one must be to outrun 100 enraged badgers.

Here’s a comment left on Ari’s post about the Reel Love is Equal video:

“What you heterosupremacist tyrannical theocRATS need to do is take your Final Leviticus Solution to the Homosexual Problem hate-filled violence-inciting propaganda and shove it down your own throats and choke on it. Start by shoving this sign down your throats – the one displayed at last summer’s tyrannical theocRAT tour http://www.bilerico.com/2010/07/gay-hate-sign.jpg”

Now, this normally wouldn’t have gotten past the censors due to all the name calling. However, I’d like to point out first of all that this sign is ridiculous. This is like small-scale bombing of abortion clinics and shouldn’t be condoned by either side.

Yes, that comment is exactly like a bombing. Well, a small-scale bombing. Of an abortion clinic. Not a large-scale bombing. Of a flower shop. Those would be entirely different.

Here are a few other things that comment is exactly like:

The Holocaust

The Lockerbie Bombing

The Vietnam War Moderately Well-Armed But Ultimately Futile Conflict

911

Unicorns

My ass

This post concludes with a self-satisfied nod to the civility of denying civil rights to Americans that makes me think that when the author looks in a mirror, she's shocked that that person is always in the bathroom with her at the same time. And they never say hello.

This is what I’m talking about. I can’t be the only one seeing this. In general, I’m seeing the SSM side to be nasty, hate-filled people. I’m just not seeing that on the OSM side. Why is that?

*Someday, I will be Empress of the Entire Freakin' World. Be sure to reserve your Cabinet position today! I really need a Cabinet Minister of Oddly Worded and Nonspecific Warnings About Behavior Everyone Should Already Know Is Foolish and Dangerous. (Really, who tries to blow dry their hair in the shower?

This Is Why I'm Not on Facebook

Actually, going by the word "dikerd" (which I cannot at all figure out, despite spending several minutes attempting to pronounce it out loud), I think Sophia will be majoring in Afrikaans.

It Makes Me Feel Better

There is a very common argument for belief which can be distilled down to: it makes me feel better and don't you want to feel better, too? Or, more verbosely, but less cogently stated:

The Two Reasons to Believe

The person who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ because of the "scientific evidence", is deceiving themselves. Seemingly legitimate arguments of logic and science can be offered from both sides of the table. Science, of this sort, is just a trumped up excuse to maintain the worldview you started with. It bolsters and supports the egocentric. It's foolishness to argue with a made up mind. Why waste time?

Science that doesn't support your argument is a "trumped up excuse"? Yeah, you have no idea what science or how it works, do you? Why waste time, indeed. Oh, you're going to anyway, aren't you?

If [A] cogent argument is making one more defensive, then what is left?

uncogent arguments, i.e., nonsense?

One who does not believe needs to see something worth believing in. This person will want to see something that they will want for themselves.

No. I want to see proof. Proof is different. Although good luck with making Mr. Ilikeitwhenyoubashbabies'skullsin something I might want.

Seeing the difference Christ makes, in the the lives of a believers, is one reason to believe that He can make a difference in yours.

Look, I've seen people made happy and content by Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Cold Play. (Really, Cold Play.) This does not inspire me to believe in your version of Christianity. This is proof of the fact that some people need something, anything, to believe in and whatever they latch onto first will do.

The active, miraculous love shining out of a believer will make you wonder.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes, I shall know you by your love: of hating homosexuals and women and muslims and Hispanics and poor children. It's all clear now. I must worship the god of active, miraculous, hateful love!

Seeing the peace and just plain sanity with which a true christian faces the most challenging of circumstances can persuade the most sceptical.

Ahem. "Skeptical". And no, it doesn't. Christians face foreclosure, death, divorce, illness, etc. with exactly the same fortitude as anyone else. And, if fortitude in the face of adversity is a reason to convert, I suggest you check out Christopher Hitchens' most recent interview- and become an atheist.

A believer always has something awesome to look forward to, that hope that cannot die! Opiate of the people, indeed!

I don't think you know what "opiate of the masses" meant, and I hope someday to ride a pink unicorn, that's no reason to believe unicorns are real.

The other reason to believe, and the best one, is that you get to know Jesus Christ! Remember, this is the One that was sent to show us what God is like! This is the One who gave up everything, including His life, just to have us with Him! In tenderness, He holds us, comforts us, and sustains us! Obedience to His every word is a joy, because He holds only our highest interests in His heart! With Him with us, we need fear nothing! Is it any wonder that praising Him is our greatest honor? That rejoicing in Him is something we'll gladly do, forever?

Yeah! I get to hang out with your imaginary friend! Who really isn't the most interesting imaginary friend available to me. I've always felt Odin was more interesting than Jesus, and then there's Prometheus or Shiva. An evening with Loki sounds both dangerous and exciting.

Anyone who has not trusted Jesus is missing out on anything and everything worthwhile and worth having.

Like what? Your boring imaginary friend or your hateful love?

Christianity can be proven, but no one should believe only because of the cold, hard facts.

If you had proof, or facts of the cold and hard persuasion, why didn't you give me those?

That is only a part of it! Convicting is done by the convincing of the heart! Who wouldn't want to be a part of the best possible outcome?

No one, but you haven't proven it, so I'm going to go call Loki and see if he wants to go clubbing with me and Shiva. (There's dancing- and death!)

Major Lulz from the Sheltered - Chapter 5

I can't believe I missed Chapter 5 of Life's Choices when it went up. So today, I have the pleasure of reviewing Chapter 5 and tomorrow I will work on Chapter 6. (Previous Chapters)

When last we left our heroine, Leona, she was . . . um, pregnant. I forget. But it's hardly important, I'm sure we can figure this out.

actually, i had all this great snark written and then I got to Leona's adventures in Planned Parenthood. It's so utterly clueless and offensive, I erased the snark to concentrate on this.

Leona pushed the thought out of her mind and made her decision. She was going to the Planned Parenthood Clinic right now and get this whole thing over with. She would never have to tell her parents, and if Peter or Sarah asked her, she could just tell them that she had a miscarriage.
She grabbed her purse and dashed out to her car before she could change her mind. Why was she afraid that she would, though?
She arrived at the clinic ten minutes later and walked in.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked.
“I’m here for an appointment,” Leona said.
“Did you have it scheduled?” the woman asked, looking through her desk calendar.
“No,” Leona said. “I just now decided. Is it possible to get...it done really quick?”
“Why don’t you have a seat in the lobby and I’ll see if we have a doctor free.” The woman waved to the lobby room and then disappeared through a door.

no. just no. you need an appointment to get an abortion. walk-ins are not welcome. first of all, they have to confirm that you actually are pregnant. this is so ridiculous, and it just gets worse.

Leona began to feel nervous. There were a few other girls in the lobby, but Leona suddenly felt alone and almost scared.
“This your first time?” a girl sitting near her asked.
“Yeah,” Leona mumbled.
“You seem kinda nervous,” the girl stated.
"I am,” Leona tried a wobbly grin. “A little.”
“Well, don’t be,” the girl said with a wave of her hand. “It’s nothing, really. Just try thinking of it as getting an overgrown toe nail removed. That’s pretty much what it’s like. I mean, it’s something not alive. Almost like a fungus.” The girl seemed to emphasis ‘it’ a lot.

Really? First of all, I think the "girl" means "ingrown" toenail, not "overgrown" toenail, because I remove overgrown toenails myself with nail clippers.

Secondly, this cavalier portrayal of abortion? Bullshit. Abortion is not a decision that is reached lightly. It is reached after much weighing of facts, consideration of alternatives and soul searching. It is beyond offensive to state (I was going to use "imply", but this is more than implication) that women who have abortions do so after less thought than they would expend on a new hair color or manicure.

Leona was shocked. All this time she had been calling ‘it’ a baby...but was it really just what the girl had said? Like an overgrown toe nail?
“Anyway, you’ll get used to it after a while,” the girl said.
“Get used to what?” Leona questioned, with puzzled look.
"Get used to coming here,” the girl laughed, almost freakishly. “This is my fifth time.”
"Your fifth time getting an abortion?” Leona was shocked.
“Well, yeah, what did you think I meant?” The girl laughed again.
By this time, the two other girls who were in the lobby were listening in on Leona’s and the other girls conversation. One of them piped in, “It’s my third time here, actually. And my friend here has been here once before.” She waved to the girl sitting next to her.
Leona felt herself sink deeper into her chair as her mind swirled with so many different thoughts. How could these girls talk of this procedure so lightly? Didn’t they ever think of what they were losing?

First of all, very few teenage girls get abortions anymore and very few people get multiple abortions. Planned Parenthood also offers birth control services, you see. Which you would know, Miss Raquel, if you bothered to use google instead of simply restating a prolife pamphlet.

A more realistic representation of who would be there for an abortion:

Eighteen percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are teenagers; those aged 15-17 obtain 6% of all abortions, teens aged 18-19 obtain 11%, and teens under age 15 obtain 0.4%. Women in their twenties account for more than half of all abortions; women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and women aged 25-29 obtain 24%.

So, if there were 3 people besides Leona in that waiting room, it's unlikely any of them were "girls". Leona is 18 (we think), so everyone else in that room should have been 20 or older.

About 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.

So, yes, Leona, if that waiting room were filled with the people who really do get abortions, they would know exactly what "they are losing", from personal experience, unlike you, you judgmental little twit.

Forty-two percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level ($10,830 for a single woman with no children). Twenty-seven percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes between 100-199% of the federal poverty level.*

That's why they're willing to "lose" it, Miss Raquel. These women already have at least one child and are making less than $10,830 a year. A year! That's not even poverty, that's one school lunch away from starvation. So why don't you stop writing "fictionals*" and do something to help these women if you're so concerned about the little babies?

So, even in a Planned Parenthood that does provide abortion services, of the women in the room, not all should be there for abortions (the rest would be there for yearly exams, etc.), and the one other woman there for an abortion should be in dire poverty, over 20 and have at least one child.

Fail, Miss Raquel, fail.

*She describes this dreadful little story as a "fictional". Yes, she nouned an adjective.

Femisogiwhat?

As I've mentioned before, my brain has an interesting self defense mechanism: it simply refuses to process anything too stupid. My brain reads "I don't have a religion, I have a relationship" as "I blahblahblahblahblah Jesus!"

This can make interacting in real life a little dicey, since I am frequently called upon to react to something I didn't really perceive at all. Usually, I just nod and say something noncommittal. Sure, I totally agree with you that we can achieve the goal of freeing Middle Eastern women by ripping their burqas off them one by one. That makes total sense. Whatever you say.

So you'll have to forgive me for being completely unable to finish Fuzzy Logic's* made up word femisogisomething, because I just can't. I think it means that feminists hate women. Or something. I . . . yeah, sure, whatever you say.

As the right strives to reclaim feminism from the faux feminists on the left, we would do well to learn from their manifold mistakes. As Lori Ziganto reminds us, women "already are equal to men." Feminists on the right understand that our rights, and our equality, do not come from man or from the government. Leftist feminists or, to use Lori's apt term, femisogynists have long held and hard hammered the belief that women are somehow less than men, that we need to stress our similarities while hiding our differences, preferably under shapeless tops, baggy trousers, butch haircuts, and strident rhetoric. They've formulated their concept of "equality" and subsequently tried to force it on society, most significantly on women, cramming all women, especially those who do not fit their idea of what makes a powerful woman, into a one-size-fits-all pigeonhole.

Yes, women have always been inherently equal to men in exactly the same way blacks are inherently equal to whites, but that's not the issue. The issue is whether or not women are treated the same, are given the same opportunities, receive the same protections. If you think that women and men are treated the same and given the same opportunities in this country, in this day and age, I would like to introduce you to my friend, Reality.

So, where do rights come from? God? Have you read the Bible? No, that's right, only atheists read the Bible. Silly me.

Also, um, "shapeless tops, baggy trousers, butch haircuts, and strident rhetoric". I wish I could show you what I am wearing right now. No portion of my outfit is shapeless, baggy or trousers, nor is my haircut . . . butch? Oh, lezbos. They all have buzzcuts. Or something. My pushup bra would just like to say that you're a moran. As would my winged-out eyeliner, my shaved legs and my delightfully purple toenails**.

See, even if your logic is fuzzy, you should know what a Strawman is. You just set one on fire, now come on down and join the actual argument.

The leftist tendency to infringe on the rights and freedoms of American women in favor of embracing and adopting the restrictive practices of other cultures is an ominous one (as in the case of female genital mutilation being permissible in "revised" form as "nicking"). We have won the right to our own bodies and to reject these barbaric, misogynist practices, and that is not a right that I intend to cede. When you see everything through the prism of gender and multiculturalism, you will naturally get a skewed picture, even an incorrect one (we see this also in the leftist insistence on seeing everything through the prism of race).

I saw a lot written about "nicking". It was all written by feminists who were quite opposed to it. We aren't ceding anything. As for seeing everything through the prism of gender and multiculturalism, um, fail. Scroll up a little in your own post and you'll see yourself decrying baggy and trousers and butch, but you don't see gender? Really? As for Teh Evil Multiculturalism: newsflash- other cultures aren't just like ours! I know, it's totally amazing. And it really pisses off women from other cultures when you barge in and say, "Take off the burqa and then it will be cocoa and schnapps for everyone! Yay!"

Just as we in the Western world defend our right as women to be stay-at-home moms (embracing that bane of faux feminists: the image of a woman in the home) or to embrace our beauty and sexuality by not "masculinizing" our appearance (as is all but demanded by femisogynists), shouldn't we also defend Muslim women's right to be who they are . . . even if that includes wearing garb that we deem insulting to women, misogynistic, and oppressive? Shouldn't we avoid dictating women's choices, avoid cramming women into a pigeonhole, albeit a different one than the faux feminists favor? Encouragement to assimilate will do what no law or court order can: enable women to see and embrace the fact that they already are equal to men.

Women choosing to stay at home are not the bane of feminists. Women "in the home" are only the bane of feminists if they have no choice whether or not to stay in the home. Does the fire marshall know about all the strawmen you're setting ablaze? Again, my pencil skirt would like to have a word with your about masculanizing my appearance, feminsowhatever that I am.

Encouragement to assimilate will do what no law or court order can: enable women to see and embrace the fact that they already are equal to men. This follows a screed about a Muslim victim of sexual assault being required to remove her niqab while in court. How this relates to femisostfu, I have no idea. I guess "fuzzy logic" means "whatever I write will eventually descend into a brown people bashing session". Also, how will assimilating into a patriarchal society that still can't quite decide whether women can be trusted with their own bodies or not teach anyone that women are equal to men?

Logic: Ur doin it rong.

*My brain is also reading "Fuzzy Logic" as "Get Fuzzy", which I really enjoy. So I'm actually feeling pretty positive about the whole thing.

**The exact color of grape Nerds!

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What Obama's Done Wrong

totally unrelated to the post

Did you ever listen to someone go on about a person they have an irrational hatred for- a coworker, acquaintance, musician, celebrity- and while they can't think of one nice thing to say about the individual, they also can't come up with one specific flaw or bad act, either? You're left with the opinion that either the hatred is completely irrational, or the hater doesn't want to admit what it is they really hate about the person, i.e., race, sexual orientation, etc.

That's what it's like when wingnuts try to describe their hatred of Obama. (Note: this is what real people who vote actually think about Obama. It's frightening.)

Describe what Obama is doing wrong

I perceive a very negative opinion of Obama on this board. I'm not American and I don't know much about politics, but I was in the midst of a pro-Obama discussion between some Christians and had the nerve to speak up with an alternative viewpoint. I don't think I articulated my view very well.

I would appreciate if someone could sum up what Obama is doing wrong, as concisely as possible. Is it possible that the negatives are outweighed by the positive changes he is making, as these Christians believed?

Keep in mind, this person who doesn't know anything about American politics, or Obama, hates Obama, for admittedly no reason at all. That's some fantastic wingnuttery right there. (From Canada, no less!) "Please tell me why I should hate the man I already hate."

First off, are you living on this planet ? What has this guy done right ? Just one thing do you know ? I can't believe you are asking this question.

Well, uh, healthcare. Dialing down the rhetoric in the Middle East. Taking nuclear responses to nonnuclear provocation off the table. Those are good things.

Well I'm not American either, so I don't know the issues as intimately as others here. But some off the top of my head are:

1. Making Abortion more accessible

2. Over-ruling the Constitution to ram what he wants down the throats of the people

3. Refusing to produce a Birth Certificate and taking extreme lengths to hide it... he's a law breaker, to say the least.

4. Mocking the Bible, the Christian faith, and bullying Israel while reaching out to the Muslims.

That's just a starter list.....

None of those things. How has Obama made abortion more accessible? He has not. He has not overruled the Constitution, he has not refused to produce a birth certificate, nor has he mocked the bible or christians. He has not bullied Israel, though I wish he would. As for "reaching out to Muslims", yes, he did do that. There's 1 billion of them, and they live on the same planet we do. We need to make nice occasionally.

My apologies. I will just sum up Obama as short as I can , HE IS BAD NEWS . If I make a list of what this guy has done my blood pressure will go through the roof. I will let others explain the things this guy has done.

I, too, cannot answer the question, but my nonanswer will be in convincing RED CAPS.

He's done everything wrong. He basically just kicked this nation off a cliff, and it's currently plummeting towards the jagged rocks. We're just waiting for the gruesome death.

I can't answer the question, either, but I will use violent imagery to not answer your question.

1. He supports and upholds infanticide!

2. He hates this country, the very country he leads. Don't believe me, then, read his two, that's right, two autobiographies!

3. He just came out and said the US will never use nukes, even if we are attacked by nukes, he will never respond in that way. In other words, please attack America, you will not be retaliated against.

4. He is a Marxist. He does not believe in the free market system. He is nationalizing every piece of our economy he can get his hands on.

5. He is a racist. In his book he speaks very badly of white people. His grandparents who raised him were white, and he said he hated that part of himself, and would separate himself from that part. He actually referred to his own grandmother as a "typical white person."

6. He is a liar. He said he sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years but never heard the radical sermons that we have heard sound bites of......

7. He is anti-Israel. He supports Israel's enemies, not our ally, Israel. In fact, he bows down to Arab kings, but treats Netanyahu like a door mat.

Is this enough because there is much much more....

Infanticide, really? Um, no. Hates America? No. Taking nuclear weapons off the table is apparently a bad thing in this alternate reality in which Obama eats babies. Marxist? Obama is barely left of center. Oh, you're talking about healthcare. Yes, providing healthcare for your fellow Americans is the mark of Stalin.

Then we're back to the racist meme, which is racist in and of itself. For as much as Obama is described as being "black", he's half white. His mother was white, his grandparents were white, he himself is as much white as he is black. Accusing Obama of being racist against white people is an attempt to make him TEh Scaree (entirely) Black Man Who Will Shank You All, Possibly In Da Hood.

#1 He diminishes Jesus Christ, and is embarrassed by the claims of God about His Son.

He secured 700+ billion dollars as a slush fund to "stimulate" the things he wants to "stimulate."

He secured a new federal entitlement program while ignoring all the other entitlement programs bankruptcy.

He cuts deals with "special" interests at the expense of the rest of us, like giving unions special deals on health care. A feat usually reserved by mutual silence because it is shameful, he now makes public, even righteous in his own eyes, and flaunts in the face of the people.

He "apologized" to the world for Americas 'folly', in his own eyes anyway.

He has let double digit unemployment hang around the necks of the people. Yes, it is entirely his responsibility, I give him no one iota of slack.

However, if you're arguing with your average European or socialist, I wouldn't even waste my breath.

The diminishment of Jesus I can only assume means being polite to Muslims. Yes, there was no stimulus in the Bush Administration. None at all. What entitlement programs are bankrupt? Guess I missed that. As for the unemployment, yes, the economy was fine under Bush. It collapsed the day Obama took office. Totally Obama's fault. Yes, indeedy.

The worst thing he has done above all else...
He has played the race card. He has demonized white, hard working , law abiding, CHRISTIAN, God Fearing Americans. Everything is the white man's fault.

Yes, it's so hard to be a white, Christian male in America today.

Kidding aside, you have said it better than I could. And as good as your list is it just scratches the surface of what this radical, narcicistic, muslim, comunist, socialist, Chicago machine politician, and out of control refugee from the rubber room president could do to this country and the world if he isn't stopped; and soon.

So, barely left of center is radical and comunist [sic] AND socialist, black is muslim, something is narcicistic [sic], and black is "out of control refugee". I get tea party politics now.

With all this said, either Obama is extremely ignorant of what the people of this country want, or he is very shrewd. He is stripping us of all rights and putting us in physical danger. He has surrounded himself with liars and thieves who will stop at nothing to get what they want. And they think it's funny. They laugh at us and make fun of us and even set us up to look bad. He's controlling the media now and trying to remove our free speech. We have a dictator problem now and yet, we do nothing. Isn't there something we can do to stop this craziness?

He's ignorant of what the majority who elected him want? I doubt it. What rights has Obama stripped you of, and were you equally enraged when Bush stripped you of rights? Nobody needs to set you up to look bad, you guys do that just fine on your own. As for controlling the media- have you seen Fox and CNN? Have you had any trouble listening to Limbaugh? I didn't think so. As for what to do about "this craziness", I assume you've heard of voting?

There's just not going to be any getting through to these people, is there?

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BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! (or: Teabaggers, the problem that solves itself)

Just like this, only with redistricting.

Remember Michelle Bachman encouraging her fellow maniacs to refuse to fill out the Census because it would result in Japanese internment camps? Well, the teabaggers listened and haven't been filling out their Census forms, presumably afraid of ending up either in Japan or actually Japanese. Which turns out to be a case of a problem solving itself:

Some Republicans are worried that an anti-government surge among conservatives will lead to lower participation in the U.S. census, which they fear could reduce the number of Republican seats in Congress and state legislatures.

The census, which is currently being collated and is gathered every ten years, dictates the distribution of federal funding, how many House members each state gets and how congressional and legislative districts are drawn within states. [...]

The unstated concern [among Republican leaders]: An under-representation of conservatives could mean fewer Republicans in Congress and state legislatures for the next 10 years.

Oh, sweet, sweet irony, how I love thee. Bachman, Beck, et al. convinced their followers to not fill out the Census- and now they'll get even less of a chance at power because of that.

Picture link.

Fail So Epic . . . Nope, Still a Fail

this fail is much like FFTS's understanding of nature

I went back and forth on ripping the writer of Food for the Soul a new one for his post on nature. I think he's pretty young, which generally earns a pass from me, but then again, he thinks it would be pretty cool to shoot wolves and doesn't understand why abusing animals is bad and he posted this on the internet for all the world to see- forever. So I'm compromising: I'm shredding his work, but I'm not cursing or calling him stupid. "Fail", however, will be coming up a lot.

The first paragraph is typical of FftS's style: totally disjointed.

Yesterday I helped my family with watching the kids. Later in the afternoon we
saw three bald eagles flying in circles above our neighbors' house. My sister
also told me that when our neighbor had little puppies a while ago, a bald eagle
came down and walked around the dog cages. It wanted to eat the little puppies!
Crazy. She also said that five eagles were flying above her school a couple days
ago. Later in the day my sister and I went to the library and got a book about
bald eagles. They are pretty cool creations. It reminds me of the scripture in Isaiah40:31.

Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and. What that has to do with puppy eating eagles, I have no idea.

Wildlife sure is cool. I was reading a wildlife article at a library here in
town in Minnesota that the wolves are on the endangered species list or the
no-shoot list still, but the citizens and businesses want the wolves to be taken
off because they are reproducing and there are too many of them. I don't know
how much bureaucracy they have to go through to get them off the list, but it
sure would be nice to be able to get rid of the threat of wolves by letting us
shooting them. I think it is interesting that the powers that be are more
willing to protect animals rather than their fellow man. They are also willing
to kill millions of us in the womb. They are also willing to tax us to protect
the polar bears. They are even willing to tax us to protect Gaea mother earth.

This has no connection to the preceding paragraph. None. It also has no connection to any observable reality. Wildlife sure is cool . . . I want to kill wolves . . . abortion is bad . . . taxes.

1. You give no explanation as to why it would be better to shoot wolves than to preserve them. Fail.

2. You want to make wolves extinct. Super fail.

3. You seem to think abortion is imposed upon people in this country. It is not. Women are free to choose to abort or not. Fail, fail, fail.

4. You seem to think protecting wolves and polar bears from extinction is preventing abortion from being made illegal. Those two things are entirely unrelated. Fail, fail, fail, fail, fail.

People in high places also think there are too many of us humans on earth.
So they give condoms to kids in schools and birth control pills and encourage
homosexuality. I have seen a lot of movies promoting the idea that us humans are
the enemy on earth and that we are destroying the earth. I also have seen many
movies that paint a picture that animals are just like humans by personifying
them by giving them the ability to speak. I have seen that we have been burning
our corn in refineries to produce ethanol in order to protect mother earth. So
apparently we should starve the humans in order to save the earth.

1. Dude, the overpopulation scare is so before I was born, and I bet I'm at least twice your age.

2. Condoms and birth control pills are made available to prevent unwanted pregnancy and the spread of disease. Neither one of those items are widely distributed at schools in the US.

3. No one "encourages" homosexuality, though the better schools do discourage bigotry against homosexuals. You can't make someone homosexual, no matter how cool you make it look.

4. We are destroying the earth. It's called pollution.

5. What does talking animals have to do with anything?

6. I'll grant you the ethanol thing, I think that's crap, too.

So us humans are taxed, fined, killed, starved, and de-humanized for mother
earth's sake. If you ask me, I'd say we have fallen far away from any kind of
common sense and fallen into the occult. People get fined large sums for
littering because "we need to save the whales." We also can't even drill oil in
some places because we need to be environmental conscious.

1. No. No, no, no, no and no. What fines? Do you mean fines for dumping toxic materials into rivers used for drinking water? Fine, you drink toxic waste.

2. Humans are dehumanized to save the environment? that makes no sense, nor have you given one example of such.

3. Throwing your trash on the ground for other people to pick up is rude and should be discouraged. This has nothing to do with the whales.

4. Yes, we should not drill in nature preserves. For obvious reasons.

The Lord told many people in old testament times to sacrifice a lot of animals
to Him just look at 2Chronicles1:6-7 and 2Chronicles7:5. Is the Lord
evil for doing that? I think not.

I do. I understand killing animals to eat them, although I am a vegetarian. Slaughtering innocent animals because your imaginary friend told you to? Not so much.

Animals are animals and can be killed at anytime for food. Sacrificing
animals is not necessary anymore because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. The
reason people sacrificed animals was to atone for sin and to please the Lord
before Jesus came. I honestly do not know what happens at the abortion clinics
but I wonder what the belief system of those clinics are. There is no way anyone
who works at those clinics are saved. So what are the beliefs of the people in
charge of those clinics? They need Jesus' forgiveness and the truth.

1. Fine, you understand tautology, clearly, but do you understand anything else?

2. Why would you want to worship someone who demands limitless quantities of blood? You seriously don't find that disturbing?

3. What does abortion have to do with this?! First of all, abortions happen at abortion clinics. Duh. What are the beliefs of the people who work at them? That women should be able to control what happens to their own bodies. You have no uterus, this will never be an issue you will have to face yourself, so do me a favor and SHUT UP.

I remember in school I went on a trip for sociology and one part of it was
about animal abuse. I remember coming out of that seminar very mad and
frustrated. I was mad because I knew that protecting animals and telling us we
can't eat them is a lie. I think that it was also an attack on farms and people
in the agriculture industry.

Now I can't even deal with you. A seminar on animal abuse made you mad not because the concept that people abuse animals is incredibly upsetting, but because the concept that humans don't have a right to torture, maim and kill as they please is just so wrong? What is wrong with you?! Did Jesus make you a psychopath or is Christianity just a convenient excuse?

Fail.

Fail. Fail.

Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail.

Racism: Get Over It!

Sometimes, you find a person so steeped in solipsism and general fail you just know they'll be the next Republican nominee for POTUS. So, America, I give you (Very) Fuzzy Logic.

Some things are complicated, difficult, seemingly impossible to fully
comprehend. To that I say, so the heck what? At some point, we have
to move past some of the things that are crippling our country, and why not
start now? Following is my (over simplified but darned fun to vent)
list of simple (simplistic, actually, but so what?) solutions to many of the
problems we face today:

Racism

To white racists: stop it

To black people: get over it

I . . . I may have had a stroke. I wonder if Fuzzy's future advice will include such gems as, "Rape victims: stop whining" or "So what if you've had every limb amputated, you don't see me complaining, do you?"

Progressives vs. PatriotsWe can do a few things about this, but none of them
involve "bipartisanship" or "compromise." I'm done "compromising" away my
liberties, my American-ness, and my country. Done. So here's what
can happen:

oh, so you protested against the Patriot Act? I will condense the next two paragraphs so we can get to the good stuff faster. Progressives: stop being progressive. Conservatives: get more conservative. And then . . .

Both: some kind of secession may be in order. Set up two "Americas,"
one that is based on the Constitution (move the capital somewhere else . . .
maybe Texas), and one based on crazy BO's crazy agenda. This would be a
short-term split because once the progs have all the people who want to sponge
off of others in one place and all the hard-working, industrious people creating
prosperity, freedom, and opportunity in another, the first will fold.
Fast. Who's going to provide financial support for their idiot dreams if
we all break off? No one. That government, being all-powerful as BO
wants it to be, will resort to force, arrests, imprisonment, executions to try
to make it work (just as they do in every other instance it's tried), and before
long they'll be begging to be part of the true America. And we'll let
them. Of course.

Actually, Fuzzy, in the real world, it's the blue states that support the red states. So, good luck with that secession and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Iran Nuke 'em. But strategically. There are democracy- and
freedom-loving Iranians who deserve a free Iran (one that isn't a menace to the
rest of the world).

How, exactly, does one strategically nuke a country 20% the size of the US? More to the point, has someone developed a nuclear weapon that kills Islamofacistcommiesocialists while sparing freedom-lovers? I must have missed that.

War on Terror

Find them, cut off their money trails, torture them if they are high up on
the food chain, kill them.

See, now that's way better than our current strategy of sending terrorists FTD floral displays. Why didn't we think of this before?!

Illegal ImmigrationAdopt the policies of any other country on this
planet. NO other country allows illegals to pour into their country and
suck their resources dry. Place a world map on a table, close your eyes,
and point to the map . . . whatever that country's immigration policy is adopt
it here. And then deal with the freakishly large and crazy-expensive
illegal immigrant population here in that exact manner. Get the word
out. End of problem.

Okay, so, we'll adopt Somalia's immigration policy. No, wait, I've got a better idea. We'll allow the Native Americans to retroactively enforce whatever immigration policy they would like, which I'm guessing doesn't allow for Fuzzy remaining in the US. Despite the fact that I would end up somewhere in the Alps, I am all about this plan.

Christmas

Treat it like the religious holiday it is and not like a scarlet letter of
shame. If you're not religious and just like the pretty lights, trees, and
presents . . . yay! Go for it; celebrate it if you wish, as you
wish. But in the open, not hiding in shame, afraid to say the words,
"Merry Christmas."

FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, NO ONE IS STOPPING YOU FROM SAYING "MERRY CHRISTMAS". You just don't have the right to expect everyone on the fucking planet from saying it to you.

Church Promotion

Sure, it was probably above average, but wow!

Give the guy money- he's an evolutionary miracle!

"Christ" was Greek for "pimpalicious".

How . . .?

The Most Disturbing Defense of the Bible I Have Ever Seen

rape, bible, god, fail
Apparently, I've been Poed. Honestly, you can't fake fundamentalism to a degree that makes it obvious you are faking it. No matter how crazy your parody, somebody actually thinks it's the word of god.

Ray Comfort defended the God ordered murders and genocides of the Bible as merely being history. Normally, I would find that disturbing, but commentor Y=X beat that by a mile.

[Trigger Warning: Rape]

I just know some atheist is going to mention

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Allow me to answer this in advance. When a virgin is raped she is no longer pure and thus her chances for marriage are greatly diminished. God provides for the woman who has become impure due to rape. Since no else will want to marry her, God commands that her attacker marry her and pay her family a tidy sum. The man who rapes a virgin has clearly shown an interest in the woman and so forcing him to marry her doesn't cause him too much distress on him and lessens the chance the marriage will be a really bad existence for the woman.

Making the attacker pay her family a tidy sum helps the family out and in this way the girl helps her family out. So, instead of the woman being considered defiled and an outcast the family can embrace her. She gets a husband and the family gets money.

God setup rules to help even the lowly out. God has a plan for each of us and we just need to seek Him to find out what His plan is.

O_o

That's so . . . is there a word for that? I'm the Queen of Obscene, and I don't know the word for that.

First of all, the impurity angle alone proves to me that either god is a complete asshole, or god didn't write this rule. I can't help it if someone rapes me. No one can help being raped. That's why we call it rape. I can be a good little girl and protect my hymen for all I'm worth, and I'm still at the mercy of anyone who can overpower a 100 lb woman, i.e., almost anyone. (Being a woman, I worry about these things.)

So, god in his infinite mercy and compassion, doesn't simply tell the Israelites "Hey, rape victims are not impure. Treat them with compassion and care." He could have done that, but he doesn't.

Secondly, The man who rapes a virgin has clearly shown an interest in the woman displays such a fundamental misunderstanding of rape that I am amazed. Rape has nothing to do with sex. Rape has nothing to do with desire, lust or anything other than power, rage and control. The man who rapes a woman is showing an interest in humiliating and exercising power over that woman. God's answer to that is to hand that woman over to the man, as property no less? That's the best answer god has? "Here, you've proven that you want to abuse this woman as much as you can, here she is, yours to abuse until she dies!" That's . . . wow.

God has a plan for each of us and we just need to seek Him to find out what His plan is. Apparently, his plan is for me, a woman, to be treated as property. Apparently, his plan is to reward rapists with unlimited access to and power over their victims. That's god's compassion, his love, his plan.

I hope Y=X brings this up to every potential convert he meets. It's certainly good press for the atheists.