That Was...Quick....

So Obama has been in office for about ten months now. His accomplishments in the Nobel Peace Prize winning area include, from what I can tell, making a speech in Cairo and being non - aggressive with Iran (Although his dealings with said country haven't yet accomplished anything solid, I must point out).

Here's a list of the other people considered, and passed over, for the Nobel Peace Prize:



Sima Samar, women's rights activist in Afghanistan: "With dogged persistence and at great personal risk, she kept her schools and clinics open in Afghanistan even during the most repressive days of the Taliban regime, whose laws prohibited the education of girls past the age of eight. When the Taliban fell, Samar returned to Kabul and accepted the post of Minister for Women's Affairs."

Ingrid Betancourt: French-Colombian ex-hostage held for six years.

"Dr. Denis Mukwege: Doctor, founder and head of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. He has dedicated his life to helping Congolese women and girls who are victims of gang rape and brutal sexual violence."

Handicap International and Cluster Munition Coalition: "These organizations are recognized for their consistently serious efforts to clean up cluster bombs, also known as land mines. Innocent civilians are regularly killed worldwide because the unseen bombs explode when stepped upon."

"Hu Jia, a human rights activist and an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, who was sentenced last year to a three-and-a-half-year prison term for 'inciting subversion of state power.'"

"Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China's communist system. He now lives in the United States."

Does anyone else find that damn odd?

Another Reason to Promote Clean Drinking Water

I've heard it theorized by some that estrogens slipping into our water supply are partially responsible for the burgeoning amount of liberals/liberal male politicians we've been seeing in the government in the last few years. Although I can't say I've gotten that part about liberal men from completely reliable sources, (cough*ravingrightwingparent*cough) I can say that the part about the estrogens in the water is, in fact, true.

While I can somewhat agree with the idea that some liberal-ification has been going on, I've noticed a more disturbing symptom of the same phenomenon recently right here in Iowa. At least three times this week, I have seen boys - approximately 11-to-14 years of age, out in public - reading books from the Twilight series.

WTF? I know it's none of my business, but I thought that was the kind of thing males did when they were sure no one would ever find out about it.

For those of you unfamiliar with this Twilight thing I'm talking about, suffice it to say that they are very, very girly novels. Here are a few quotes from this livejournal review that I think sum up my feelings about the tone of the books pretty nicely:

*- Some of the descriptions of Edward are so corny it's painful. Example: "He grinned his crooked smile at me, stopping my breath and my heart. I couldn't imagine how any angel could be more glorious. There was nothing about him that could be improved upon."

*What kind of pansy-ass vampire sparkles in the sun anyway?

British Airline Says Yes to Sexism

Holy crap. (Bangs head on wall).

Christian stewardess on British airline ordered to wear head-to-toe Muslim attire and walk behind male coworkers.

What is in the water over there?

Gay Reparations

Yet another request for reparations.

At least this request for reparations makes slightly more sense than requests by modern Americans for slavery, seeing as how homosexuals alive today have actually experienced the grievance the author of the article wants payment for, even if it is something far less severe than slavery. But hey, if the government starts shelling out reparations for gays, someone should start lobbying for reparations for the descendants of Irish-American immigrants. Or German American immigrants. I could cash in on either on of those. Or reparations for all women! Even more cash for me. My forebears had their feelings REALLY REALLY hurt - I completely deserve at least a few grand.

More importantly, though, it seems somewhat disgusting to try and use hardships suffered by gays as a means of money-grubbing. The author of the article even admits is would probably be impossible to calculate the amount of wages lost due to job discrimination against homosexuals- so why not demand something more important, like equal rights in all public spheres, etc.? The author also states that a monthly check will never be ample compensation for the most severe discrimination suffered by some gays; still, ALL gays should get some money anyways. Oy. I also do not follow the my-neighbor-just-called-me-a-fag-therefore- Uncle-Sam-owes-me-money-for-some- reason logic at all.

Another "What is Wrong With Europe?" Post

Another disgusting example of the whole defending-oneself-is-evil attitude, in this instance applied to a murder case. Of course, this whole thing occurred in Britain.

Family of father stabbed to death by three thugs is denied compensation... because he tried to fight back. And this is in a country that, according to the article, awarded a half million pounds to some typist who injured her thumb.

Make sure to check the comments...at least there are a few hearteningly sensible opinions to be found in there.

"Hate" Speech

I came across a post earlier at this blog, which consisted partially of the age old young-people-these-days rant. Unfortunately, I completely agreed with the author's opinion of my generation's aversion to anything resembling conflict/disagreement/feelings besides those of wuv and chumminess. The author states at one point:

'Young people have never read, or even heard of, Mencken, for instance -- and would find the idea of looking for a "new" one utterly incomprehensible. Mencken was clearly a "hater." Menken (sic) was "mean." And "mean people suck."'

I have had it with wuv and fwiendship. I have had it with "Aw, you're just a hater" and "You need to stop hatin' on (insert offensive thing here)". People my age seem to use these phrases whenever someone states a freaking opinion of any sort. No, we do not need to stop 'hating'. People call others haters in an attempt to insult them, but I've never under stood why being deemed a hater was a bad thing. If things get any worse, I'll start considering it a compliment.

Society needs its chutzpah back - we do not need any more conflict-avoiding, debate-averse, appeasement-promoting, all-fighting-is-bad attitudes infecting the minds of our youth (debate is arguably the basis of democracy, people). Especially since our schools seems to be their damndest to spread these pernicious attitudes. Or at least in my personal elementary/middle school experience. And it's not as if I'm at all neurotic or paranoid when it comes to schools...

They Passed It?

I knew the Anti-Defamation-of-Religion/ Flagrantly-Orwellian-Bill thing with stuff was on the table at the UN, but I guess my naive self was still expecting the thing to get voted down. But they actually passed the damn thing.

Evidently, the bill is not only Orwellian, but also prejudiced -

"India, which normally votes along with the council’s majority of developing nations, abstained in protest at the fact that Islam was the only religion specifically named as deserving protection"

Of course.

I urge all sensible people who read this to start 'defaming' as vigorously as possible. For example: those who don't understand the concept of freedom of speech and wish to impose respect for their religion on others should stay the hell out of free societies. Those who are at present doing exactly that in the name of Islam are doing a Bad Thing. Yes, I am equating theocratic Islam with Badness, hopefully thereby defaming it.

34% Believe Nanny State is Necessary

Strapped for time - read this and be ticked off by it.

Smart Children Are Too Stupid To Read

Nanny state...or schools? Hmm...

Since I'm writing this post instead of completing some homework that involves coloring things in, I'll go for schoolcentric rant today, I think.

I can't believe they're having me color things, damn it. Due mostly to parental influence, pretty much every course I've taken in high school has been Honors This or Advanced That or Ap Something or Other - this would lead on to believe that these courses would be more difficult than the regular courses, no? For the most part this is true, except when it comes to Honors English classes. In a continuation of a pernicious thought system I first encountered in elementary school, the Honors English class has, as of late, been treating me and my 'gifted' peers like babies.

Pernicious Rumor Believed by the School Board #1: 'Smart' kids enjoy being 'creative'. Sure, we enjoy being creative, in our own way, doing things we actually enjoy, but the school systems seems to think 'creativity' is tantamount to acting like a four year old. Instead of doing any writing, we color things; instead of contemplating Shakespeare, we are ordered to make up rap songs in groups about Romeo and Juliet and sing them in front of people. (During this particular episode, I jotted down some lines, shoved them at my groupmates, ordered them to sing if they were spineless enough to comply with the assignment, and wrote on the whiteboard while they were doing so that I was 'abstaining on educational principle').

Pernicious Rumor #2: People learn if they are put in classes where we are forced to do so-called 'creative' things. Public humiliation via rap songs does not teach me anything about classical literature.

Pernicious Rumor #3: Classical literature, especially Shakespeare, is far too complex for our poor minds to comprehend. Everything that we actually do read in Honors English is accompanied by long, tedious, completely unnecessary 'translation' spoon-fed to us by the instructor (I of course do not understand Elizabethan slang, but I can figure out that the phrase "In fair Verona, where we lay our scene," means the play takes place in Verona, dammit). This, I might add, comes a few years after a classic episode in middle school wherein the English teacher helped us dumb down the Gettysburg Address into a few short lines, containing words no longer than six or so letters, because the we couldn't possibly be expected to understand the original.

I wonder if the kids in English classes for non-'gifteds' actually, you know, study English.

What the Hell Happened to Europe?/Wilders Case

Why am I not surprised?

The country that barred Geert Wilders welcomes those with ties to Hezbollah.

A quote from the linked to article states: “Exclusion decisions are based on hard evidence not hearsay, and are targeted at those who seek to stir up tension and provoke others to violence regardless of their origins and beliefs.”

Uh-huh...so why was Wilders denied entry? How is producing a video that consists of video tapes of imams making speeches provoking others to violence?

Another excerpt, concerning the Geert-banning Home Secretary Jacqui Smith: "...she stopped right wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders from coming into the UK to protect ‘community harmony’."

Since when is an undefined level of 'harmony' more important that freedom of speech?