I know you are, but what am I?

People never enjoy studies that come out which may seem insulting to a specific type of people. Such as one researcher who claimed to have discovered an intelligence gene which was most pronounced in Asians and least in.. well, I'll leave that out because it's.. well, insulting. After all, it's insulting to call someone less intelligent whether it's how they're born or how they choose to be. Personally, I have no problem admitting Asians are probably smarter than me.. but then, I'm not at the lowest level either.

So you can imagine the uproar that could very well be happening right this moment from a new study which concludes that there is a negative correlation between conservatism and intelligence. This means that when ones goes up, the other goes down. In this case, the more conservative a person is, the lower their intelligence.


"Conservatism and cognitive ability are negatively correlated. The evidence is based on 1254 community college students and 1600 foreign students seeking entry to United States' universities. At the individual level of analysis, conservatism scores correlate negatively with SAT, Vocabulary, and Analogy test scores. At the national level of analysis, conservatism scores correlate negatively with measures of education (e.g., gross enrollment at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels) and performance on mathematics and reading assessments from the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) project. They also correlate with components of the Failed States Index and several other measures of economic and political development of nations. Conservatism scores have higher correlations with economic and political measures than estimated IQ scores."

Now, of course, a study should be done on a larger scale and with a greater variety of people and not just those already seeking entry into university. I'm not going to say that this study creates a definitive fact which states that liberals are smarter than conservatives, but this, combined with other well known intelligence markers does make it quite interesting. For instance, the more religious a person is, the lower intelligence they're likely to have (and lower education) and, as we all know, the conservative movement is headed by one and only one group- christians.

Critical thinking skills are essential to intelligence (it's not all just memorizing facts and dates) which is something that most religious people severely lack and, in the same group, something conservatives usually lack.

So does this mean the more conservative parties are suddenly going to be known as the stupid parties? Well, to most liberals they already were, but realistically, probably not. Since facts tend to be insulting and no one wants that. Still, it'll be interesting to see where, if anywhere, this leads.

Sexuality in America

This subject has been done to death but after a while I think every blogger has to put in their two cents. America has made huge strides in the progression of sexual tolerance and rights, but we're still not anywhere near where we should be. A homosexual child is still six times more likely to commit suicide than their straight siblings and gay bashing isn't exactly hard time find. Johann Hari recently wrote an article about homophobia in the black community where it is most prevalent. The article claims that, like most homophobes, black or white, the hip hop community is so good at bashing gays because they're oh so good at hiding how gay they actually are.

He writes, "I recently interviewed Dean for Attitude, Britain's best-selling gay magazine. He told me about a man -- I don't believe in outing, so I won't give his name -- who "has been named in the past as one of the biggest rappers of all time by MTV. He's always trashing gay men in his lyrics. But he is surrounded by a posse of transvestites," who he has sex with. Dean then runs through a list of hip-hop gays, each more famous and closeted than the last."

It's funny how many white homophobes instantly get the title of having latent homosexuality, but that's pretty unheard of in the African American community. Maybe rightly so since the man interviewed by Hari, also secretly gay, says he feared for his life. Maybe rappers really are as violent as they sing about.

Still, a study in 1996 by Adams, Write, and Lohr found that the majority of men who identified as having aggressive feelings towards homosexuals were significantly aroused when shown homosexual pornography. The general feeling is that we have enough scientific evidence to suggest that a fear of gays really does suggest a person may be at least partly gay. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8772014)

Let's move on from heterosexuality vs homosexuality for a moment though and talk about bisexuality. This study also showed that 100% of the men were aroused by heterosexual porn meaning that they were not homosexual, but rather, bisexual. Hari writes "we know from decades of sexual research that almost everyone -- especially as a teenager -- has a period when they have omnivorous sexual urges, with attraction to the 'wrong' gender cropping up for a while. (Like most gay boys, I had a burst of heterosexual experiences when I was 15 and 16.)"

This from a man who, by the way, identifies as homosexual and not bisexual, yet he is essentially saying that not only does science indicate that all human beings at some point are attracted to both sexes, but he himself has personal experience in that area. This, ladies and gentlemen, we call bisexuality. Now, even in the bisexual community (people who acknowledge their attraction to both sexes) there is almost always a preference for one sex or the other. Does this mean that bisexuality is really the majority? Perhaps hetero and homosexuality are simply strong preferences by bisexual men and women. Even the gayest people I know still are "bi curious" even though they don't like to admit it. On the same note, even the straightest people I know have admitted to "experimenting" or having a curiousness as well.

I don't believe in homosexuality. I don't believe in heterosexuality. I believe in sexuality. I believe that we, as human beings, as sexual beings and have the capacity to be sexually aroused by numerous things, including both genders.

Germophobia's going to kill us

That's right, it's not the germs themselves, but your insane, neurotic germophobia that's going to be the death of us. Germ killing power is everywhere. Every cleaning commercial targeted at women states that so and so's product kills 99.9% of nasty germs. As a mother I find this ridiculous and, yes, dangerous.

Superbug. The word's been around for a few years now, but what is it? A superbug is a mutated form of a common germ that's become resistant to cleaning agents and medicines like antibiotics. Now, let's look at why we have superbugs. Make no mistake, these little critters are cause for alarm- and I mean all out the sky is falling alarm, because if these bugs become the norm then there's not much we can do since all the medicines we have to fight them would be completely useless.

1. Overcleaning. Seriously- let you and your kids be exposed to some germs. Exposure and, yes, even getting sick is necessary to let your body build up immunities, those nice natural defenses we come built with. Living in a bubble only means that when your kid hits the real world with no immune system, the risk of serious complication goes up. As long as you keep things pretty clean and aren't eating feces directly, you're pretty much okay.

2. CAFO's. Now, I'm against meat consumption for all kinds of ethical, environmental, and health reasons, but superbugs certainly ranks high up there behind ethics. Factory farms keep animals in filthy conditions, closely packed together, and eating foods they were never meant to eat. This means that the animals, if not treated with antibiotics, would stay sick all the time and most of them would die. The answer, in the CAFO world, is to give them drugs on a regular basis whether they're sick or not as a preventative treatment. Now, if you're looking past the fact that these animals are treated insanely horribly anyway, you might think this seems like a good idea. No, no. All it does does is breeds bugs that have to be stronger than those drugs in order to survive. The bird flu, the swine flu.. all thanks to antibiotic created superbugs.

If you're worried about all the nasty, possibly deadly germs left over from the meat you served for dinner then don't eat the meat. Really- it contains possibly deadly germs that you're hoping will be cooked out and you're feeding it to your family? If you don't want nasty germs laying around, stop eating nasty food.

Now, I'm not saying that living dirty and throwing poop at each other is a good thing. That's what got Europe in trouble with the whole plague thing. Yes, wash your hands after you use the bathroom or scratch your butt, but people,seriously, stop overreacting- you're gong to kill us all if you do.

Religion Strangles Science

Everyone knows that religion inhibits science. In fact, we have religious based "science" that spends it's time trying to prove that dinosaurs never existed or that there was indeed a worldwide flood, ridiculous endeavors when we already know there were dinosaurs and no world flood. And still they keep trying. But that's off topic.. that's getting into faux science.. what about REAL science?

One of my favorite things to talk about in regards to science and religion is, of course, the dark ages. 300 years of ignorance and the outlawing of intelligence (which includes, of course, science). Can you really fathom where we would be if it weren't for Christianity? Where we would be with those hundreds of years where we could have been technologically advancing? Where will we be in 300 years? Think about it. That's where we could have been now.

Of course, those days are long gone and we, for the most part, don't let ignorance and religion effect science, technology, and education. Until, of course, Bush took office. Placed in the white house by God himself, he and many of his fight wing fundies flouted. He was a soldier for the religious. He would make things right. No stem cell research, which, he moronically said, supported and encouraged abortion. No, we'll have none of those life saving cures. We don't want those parapalegics walking again and goodness gracious we certainly don't want to get rid of those elderly degenerative brain diseases! That would be against God. Not that the abortion rate actually went down because of this and it's not like we can get stem cells from anywhere but aborted fetuses (oh yeah.. that's right.. we CAN!).

I was watching the news which talked about Obama lifting the ban on federal funding for stem cell research. The reporters praising the possible cures that will soon be available and the sheer potential! We have known about the potential of stem cells for about a decade now, they said. A decade. Can you imagine the progress we could have had in a decade? And what's been such a hinderence? Why, Bush, of course.

Stem cell research could very likely cure diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, spinal injury, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, and a host of genetic and metabolic disorders. It could reverse cancer, or help replace damaged organs.

This is a modern example of religion strangling science. It's terrifying and disgusting to know that this still goes on and I dream of a day when people use common sense and fearless compassion instead of ridiculous and outdated fairytales and myths.

I Used To Be Extraordinary- A Metamorphasis

I was a young, mentally ill girl who liked almost everything about her personality. Gandhi said "be the change you want to see in the world" and I followed that even before I'd heard it. Those are truly words to live by, said by an extraordinary and admirable man. I strove, with every fiber of my being, to be kind, generous, free spirited, innocent and wise. It was perhaps with my first venture into Paganism that I really took to heart the idea of harming none, or at least causing the least amount of harm possible. I was empathetic and tender hearted by nature, probably due to knowing what it felt like to be abused, bullied, and persecuted, but this new thought took it to the next level.

I'm sure you're thinking, well, it should be obvious that one would want to do as little harm as possible and yes, you're right, but how many of us actually follow through with that golden rule? I became Wiccan at 13 and at 14 I stopped eating meat, not only for the health benefits, which I really only used when trying to justify myself to meat eaters who thought ethical reasons were too hippie-ish, but for spiritual reasons and to further my mission.

I was the kind of person whom people always referred to as "older". Not older in years, but more mature, more serious, more concerned with the problems of the world. I wasn't out doing drugs, drinking, or sleeping around like most of my school mates, but rather I was studying world religions, philosophy, and ethics. I got comments like "you're only (insert any age between 14 and 23 here)?" with a slight tone of shock. Yep, I was the bookworm, the weird nerd who never fit in, which made me happy.

By the time I hit 16 or so I was pretty happy with who I was. I was serious and aware of the world around me, seeing things that needed to be changed and I was proud of my passion for helping others. I was goofy and silly and free spirited, dancing through fields of wheat on my way to the bus stop or braiding flowers in my hair to wear to school. I was naturally a romantic and, while still believing in feminism and equal rights, being swept away the the idea of chivalry, nobility, and fairytale worlds.

I was extraordinary. I don't mean this in an egotistical sense, but rather just it's true meaning, beyond ordinary. I was not like the rest of the people I knew and I loved that. The rest of the world seemed cold, heartless, cynical, and hard. I wanted to be like those Buddhist monks you see in movies who are ever wise with love and kindness in their hearts. I was different and I didn't think the world could ever change me. After all, I grew up being abused, and still did not turn cold, I was bullied in horrible ways and still did not turn cold, my father was even murdered when I was 16, and still I did not turn cold.

As I got older, many bad things happened to me. Life has never been kind to me, but still I held out hope, kept faith in humanity, believed in everyone's innate kindness and goodness, and believed things would all work out for the best.

Then something happened and my world crumbled. My husband, whom I had been with since I was 15 and right after our 4th wedding anniversary did something horrible. That something is a long and painful story that may someday get it's own post but for now I'll paraphrase. He cheated on me. No, wait, it gets worse. We lived with the woman he was sleeping with and her family. It was all in front of me, flaunted, rubbed in my face. Being bipolar, I became very sick, very depressed. I became suicidal almost instantly and, for that reason, did not have the strength or courage to stop what was going on. For six months they did this and all I could do was cry and try, occasionally, to kill myself. My husband, who was no longer the man I knew, became more and more emotionally and verbally abusive, finally escalating to physical violence. The other woman was also horribly abusive and manipulative. She knew just the right thing to say to keep me down and was purposefully driving me to suicide.

Thinking about it is like watching a horror movie in my head. I can see myself, but it's not myself. A dissociated image caught in a fantastical play. There are a few main images I can't seem to get rid of. I can see myself, crying, sobbing in the room upstairs while they were downstairs, fucking like animals. I can see myself, that last time I tired to kill myself with the bottle of pills.. how I took them one at a time at first, and then more at a time until they were gone. I can see a myself, crying on the end of the bed, I see myself trying to stand up and being pushed back down by my husband's hand on my throat. These thoughts, replaying themselves over and over and wondering why and how this could happen to me, of all people. I tried so hard to be a good person, to be there for those I love, to do good for the people and the world around me, and this is what I got in return.

And so I changed. In ways I never thought possible. In ways that make me dislike who I am. Not because I am a bad person or because, being so hurt, I in turn began to hurt others, because I did not. Instead, what I dislike so much, is that I'm like everyone else.. cynical, distrustful, cold and blocked off to feeling anything. I am no longer extraordinary. I am like everyone else. I cannot be the change I want to see in the world. I cannot dance, I cannot love, I cannot enjoy the things I once did. My life is a drab, gray, mass of days which are all the same, punctured by heart breaking stabs of agony. My faith in humanity is lost, as am I.

Vegan School Lunches

Why I Don't Like Smokers

It's funny the course a thought can sometimes take. For personal reasons I was contemplating the mindset of an abuser and psychological factors and my mind jumped to an analogy of smoking and thus the revelation: smokers are like abusers. Or, more correctly, smokers are abusers.

Why? Think about it. A smoker is doing something very self damaging and, when they smoke around others they are inflicting harm, physical harm, on those people. These could be their spouses, their children, or total strangers. Like abusers, they often feel entitled to harm others in this way and, most of the time, don't even see why it's bad or harmful.

The most notable and, perhaps abhorrent of this abuse is perpetrated on our children. Not only children living in the household, but any child that comes into contact with their poison. Not only does it inflict physical damage, but also psychological damage. We know that children who grow up around smokers are more likely to grow up and smoke themselves, inflicting self damage which can be compared to self injury such as cutting or purposeful reckless behavior.

Most people would be disgusted if they found out that, say, a six year old were addicted to cigarettes. You would never let your six year old smoke... would you? If you would you would have your child taken away and into the custody of child services in a heartbeat, and yet we allow our children to become addicted to cigarette smoke from second-hand smoke at much younger ages. This is the real reason that children who grow up in smoke filled homes are more likely to smoke- they're already addicted!

So, smokers are, by all accounts, abusive addicts who feel no remorse in hurting other people, even their own children. I've made it no secret that I believe parents who smoke around their children should have their children taken away or be charged with abuse and be made to take a parenting class- perhaps one that shows what it is they're doing to their children which they supposedly love so much and would do anything to protect.. except not smoke, obviously.

Riots at the RNC

I know that every blogger and their sister has something to say about the arrests on Monday at the excel center where the Republican National Convention was being held, but I most certainly had to put my two cents in and, hopefully, spread the word to a few friends and family reading my blog who otherwise might not know.

10,000 gathered on the first night of the convention to protest the Iraq war, th republican party, and McCain's campaign. McCain has repeatedly voiced his approval of the war and a plan to keep our loved ones there. The protest was peaceful until a group of gestapo showed up trying to stop the protests without any cause, thereby infringing on our constitutional right to freedom of speech and the freedom to gather peacefully.

After stopping a march held by some 300 college students by blocking their path, the students began playing "freedom" music and dancing in the streets. A barrier was formed around the students and, without warning, the gestapo suddenly started firing pepper spray. Several students were burned.

In front of the convention site a barricade of police with megaphones announced that everyone was under arrest, not even attempting to weed out the supposed trouble causers from those who were standing quietly by. Several news teams nearby rushed over to cover the arrests and were then also told that they would be arrested. They were forced to kneel on the ground with their hands on their heads- an uncomfortable and unjust position to have to hold for an extended period of time. Over 250 protesters were arrested and charged with "conspiracy to incite a riot".

Our rights, as Americans, are slowly being taken away. Some may call me unpatriotic, but we are a nation known for challenging those in power. The constitution guarantees us freedom from tyranny. The second amendment, the right to bare arms, was not put there for rednecks to shoot deer and squirrels or for paranoid creationists to protect themselves from the homosexuals. It was put in place so that we had a way to protect ourselves from the government! Of course, with the invention of more powerful weapons the need for guns in the hands of th people is no longer valid since a musket won't going to hold a flame to a tank, but that's a discussion for another post. Our government is one of checks and balances for a reason! To ensure that no one has too much power!

But what power do the people have left? Do we have the power to vote into office our leaders? Obviously not since Bush was not the elected president. The popular vote did not go to him, meaning that more people didn't want him than did. And yet he was placed in power. Why? What kind of system do we have that a candidate can so easily cheat to win, not win, and still be placed as the commander and chief of our country?

MLK made great changes to this country because of his peaceful protests. He was also stopped many times the the police. Protesters were unjustly attacked, arrested, or even killed. And we look back at that time now and how do we see the people who worked so hard against him? Bigots, racists, ignorants, hate mongers.

We look back at the women's right movement and how do we see those who stood against it? Bigots, sexists, ignorants, hate mongers. Controlling men who thought they were better and smarter.

We look back at Vietnam and the hippies and how do we see them? Thy are the heroes who stood against an unjust war and spoke out against war crimes and hate. Though they were hated in their time, they are now a symbol of goodness and morality.

And what do these bigots and hate mongers have in common? They all com from the political right. The left has always fought, throughout history, for human rights, for freedom, for most of the things that are taken for granted today.

I've often wondered if the conservatives of yesterday who protested equal rights now feel ashamed. And I think, in 20, 30, or 40 years how will the political left be remembered? I am certain they will be seen as they always have in our history books, as those who fought for what was right. When gay marriage is as commonly accepted as interracial marriage or as women's right to vote, those who stand against it today will be seen as wrong, immoral, and hateful.

Those protesters are the heroes of tomorrow. Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to look back on what's happening now and say "I protested. I fought for what was right. I helped stand against corruption and hate".

I also want to note that there were also several arrests during the DNC (about half as the RNC) although they were 90% people who were actually causing trouble, unlike at the RNC where people were arrested with no cause. However, regardless of whether I agreed with these protesters (and they can be compared to the anti-negro protesters of th 60's, meaning that they are protesting for restricting rights and creating a religiously controlled government) they have rights as well. These gestapo techniques are unacceptable, no matter how bigoted and intolerant the protesters are.

I'm sorry blog,I still love you

This poor blog has been pretty neglected. Tsk, tsk. That's because I've been incredibly busy. To read about what I've been so busy with visit my other blog: http://please-dont-feed-the-maniac.blogspot.com

A Spiritual Walk

As you may remember, in my previous blog I had taken notice of the fact that I no longer notice the world that I am living in. All of my passion for life or for living has ebbed away as I reached the ripe old age of 22.

So today I took action. I walked a path I've walked a hundred times before. In high school I used to walk, every morning, twenty minutes to my best friend's house just so that we could ride the same bus. My bus would have picked me up right in front of my driveway, but then I wouldn't have memories of nirvana, love spell body spray, and Jean's giggle while Beth applied foundation to her lips.

It was cold out, so I wore a tank top. I wanted to be able to feel the bite of the cold. I walked quickly, as I used to do, with my head down, glancing up occasionally to see kids on bikes or a lady walking her dog. I had my camera. I took pictures of plants and the street and my path. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to get there. It didn't take as long as I remembered. Maybe it was the lack of a 30 pound backpack.

At the end of a gravel road I saw a field. It was a corn field, though In February there was no corn , but rather lumpy rows of dirt and grass. I'd walked across that field a hundred times. More. I'd walked through it when it was only dirt, when it was grass and when the corn reached towards the sky. We had played hide and seek in that corn. In that field. I stepped onto it, afraid someone would see and yell at me for trespassing. The sun was sinking low in the sky. I laid on my belly to take a picture of the grass, green and tinted yellow at the tops from lack of rain.

I looked around. A car passed me, and then all was still. No one around. I double checked to make sure. And then I spread my arms wide, face upturned and I spun. I twirled in that field full of memories like a five year old. I felt like a five year old. I felt free and I felt connected. A single star shone above the tree tops and I did something I hadn't done in years. I made a wish.

I walked back home, the sun barely a streak of red in the sky. The world seemed to hold new meaning. I heard every sound, saw every flicker of light, smelled every scent. The world was more vivid and I was more alive.

Wishing on stars

"Star light,
Star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may,
I wish I might,
May I have this wish I wish tonight?"




When did I get too old to wish on stars? When did I become so pessimistic and cynical about the world? Even into high school my romantic heart fluttered at the thought of knights in armor, castles, faeries and true love. I used to lie on my bed, in my rose pink room, staring out the window at the miniature roses that bloomed there and think of of the wonderful things the world held for me. I imagined a world full of possibilities where people loved and helped each other. A world full of passion and grace and kindness.

Was it the death of my dreams that prompted my cynical view of the world? When I hurt my ankle in 2004 I not only came to the realization that I could not finish school for musical theater, but I realized that I wasn't good enough to sing professionally and I likely never will be. My love of and passion for music and the entire musical world was damaged knowing that I could not be a part of it.

Was it my broken heart? Realizing that the kind of love that existed in my head did not really exist in real life? Shortly after high school I found myself believing in knights in shining armor. Dark, mysterious, and passion filled relationships where everything always worked out. I wanted to be swept off of my feet with lavish and reckless abandon. I thought I had found that and my heart was shattered. Was this the beginning of my downfall?

Maybe it was simply the act of growing up and realizing that the world is a cold and cruel place most of the time. Yes, there are pockets of compassion, kindness, love, and passion. But no longer did I dance in the moonlight or twirl in fields of flowers. I no longer stood in the rain and shivered in pleasure at the feel of the heavy drops on my skin. These things now seem frivolous next to making sure the power doesn't get cut off or making sure the baby is fed. Maybe I'm simply too exhausted from just living to really enjoy things the way I used to.

Somehow I feel hollow. I have love, I have enough money for semi-comfort, I have family.. and yet I don't feel like I'm feeling love or happiness to it's fullest extent because I've managed to block out my passion and my sensitivity to the world around me. I'm numb to the world. Sure, I get hurt less, but I also live less.

Today is blog for choice day, so if you're pro choice, do your part and let people know.

Pro choice. Pro life. These terms are very misleading.. No one who's pro life is actually saying that people never deserve to have choices and, obviously, people who are pro choice still respect life.

Imagine, if you will, it's a hot, heavy summer night. Crickets sing in the fields just past your house where the grass is knee high and brown from the intensity of the sun. You're sitting on your back porch, thinking about your birthday party. You just turned thirteen and now, you feel, the world is at your fingertips.. you're finally growing up! You hear the screen door creek open as your mom's brother steps out onto the porch. You barely know him, but he's very friendly and likes to laugh. He starts talking to you about growing up, becoming an adult. Maybe you'll want a boyfriend soon. He asks, do you ever look at boys like that? He's touching your knee and suggests a walk in the field. You feel a bond with him.. like your dad maybe.

Congratulations. Two weeks later you find out you're pregnant. Fear, shame, horror. You never told anyone that he raped you, but you have to do something now. Not only do you fear the emotional and psychological pain from carrying a baby that was forced upon you so harshly, but you know there's a risk of deformities and a risk to your own life since you are so young.

This is why I am pro choice. Because I know how emotional carrying a baby is. I know the fear and the anxiety.. and I was actually trying to get pregnant! Yet I spent night after night in tears, wondering how I was going to do this. Can you imagine being raped? Can you imagine fearing for your life because of your age or other physical factors?

I consider myself a moderate pro choice because I don't believe in casual abortion. I think it should be a last resort, depending on circumstances. Rape, incest, danger to mother, or severe physical or mental deformities are all good and valid reasons for terminating a pregnancy. Do I think you should have it done because you just don't feel like it right now? Even if you're otherwise able to carry the child full term? No. I'm a huge supporter of adoption and I hope to adopt or foster someday even though I do want my own children (and already have one).

It's not black and white. It's not all or nothing. It's a complicated issue and a morally heavy one. Abortion isn't anything new.. it's been performed for thousands of years. In ancient greece there was an herb that worked so well for "casting out" children that the plant became extinct. A woman has power over her own body. We carry the child, we experience the pain, we get sick, we hurt, and we give birth... the whole experience is traumatic and painful, not even factoring in depression due to hormone changes or other outside psychological forces.

It's a shame that personal choices and freedoms and, indeed, basic human rights, should be anywhere near the slimy underbelly of the world that is politics, but here in the US it's a common issue and a hot topic for our elected officials. It's important to vote for officials that will uphold human rights because, let's face it, if a woman's freedom over her own body is compromised we will start a heinous backslide. How would you like to be arrested for being gay? Or for having sex in any position except the missionary one? (Oh, please, no!) . Most of society's so called "traditional values" are nothing but hatred and bigotry wrapped in a cross and a pretty bow.

Are you pro choice or pro life? Let me know what you think and why.

If you light one up, santa will bring you toys

I have to say.. I'm dumbfounded, outraged and disgusted at this Virginia mother who was arrested after posting a video to Myspace of her two year old daughter being forced to smoke a cigarette. What words could I possibly use to express my anger? If you know me, you know I'm not a violent person. I'm non confrontational and fights give me panic attacks. If I saw this bitch on the street I would knock her fucking block off. (if you know me, you also know I don't curse)

What was this woman thinking?! Did she think it was cute? Perhaps she saw one of Will Ferrell's videos with his little girl cursing and holding a beer bottle, pretending to be drunk. I'm sure most of you have seen those videos and maybe I seem up tight, but they weren't funny.
Obviously this idiot took it a step further by giving her child an actual cigarette (at least Ferrell didn't actually get his daughter drunk). The video showed her daughter, trying to light a cigarette with her mother using foul language and encourging her to get it lit and smoke it. I don't know why she thought it was a good idea or why she didn't think anyone would see it and call the authorities, unless she genuinely thought there was nothing wrong with it.

This is why I HATE smokers! They piss me off on a daily basis.. today they just piss me off more. Smoking should just be banned and be done with. It's not your god given right to pollute my fucking air or slowly kill your own child with second hand smoke (and later, probably first hand).

Perhaps the worst part is that she was NOT arrested for child abuse, bur rather for her excessive use of foul language and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She probably won't have her child taken away, as she should and her child will probably begin smoking at the age of eight, ensuring her early death and lower quality of life.

Smokers beware. Today I am on a rampage.

the geeks are breeding

As we all know there are nerds, geeks, and dorks. Which are you? I myself am a nerd (the kind who may be seen wearing taped up glasses, reading during recess an correcting my classmates' grammar and/or spelling), in addition to being a marching band geek and your typical fantasy/D&D geek. I was never a gamer, unless you count my profound love of pac man and the occasional game of paperboy.

However, as all nerds and geeks do I eventually grew up and married another geek. Yes, he was the too-smart-for-his-own-good type of geek, but he was also a gamer. At times I wondered if he'd rather make sweet love to his X-box rather than me (and if you're a gamer you would find this understandable). It is because of this unholy union of geekdome that I came to appreciate the world of gaming and sci-fi conventions. I now didn't find it odd at all that dressing like a blue alien and speaking gibberish could be a turn on or that knowing random video game facts could, in fact, get me laid.

In the merging of the marching band geek and the gaming geek I am truly able to appreciate and indeed, applaud this fine display:

glumbert - The geekiest marching band of them all

So stand up all ye geeks. Let the 54th level wizard stand up with pride. Hold your wii-motes high in recognition of this fine art of geekdome.

Violent America

How many of you have seen Michael Moore's movie, Bowling for Columbine? In it, he discusses the issue of gun control and, of course, the columbine shootings. After that awful tragedy, America looked at what would cause such a terrible thing to happen. Was it TV? Video games? I know! Marilyn Manson and the devil's music (rock and roll) . But wait... other countries such as Canada and England have violent TV, Japan has way more violent video games, and the lots of countries have plenty of rock and roll.

Let's look at England. No guns. Not even the police carry these deadly weapons. They have realized that, actually, guns do kill people. So do knives, but you have to be a hell of lot more committed. The gun is the coward's weapon. You don't have to look your victim in the face, you don't have to double think what you're doing... it's really very convenient . But what about Canada? More people own guns there than they do here and yet, where's their violent crimes? Where are their high murder rates? What makes them so different? Or rather, what makes us so different? Why do other countries have murder rates of about 200 a year, while ours are around 11,000? I have a theory.

There's a direct problem and an indirect problem. Let's talk about the direct problem first. America has the perfect mix of poverty, wealth, liberalism, and fundamentalism to breed a nation ripe with anger and full of crime. People in America are, generally, unhappy.

Let's say you're not wealthy. Maybe you're lower middle class, lower class or even impoverished. You can resent the wealthy an strive to be wealthy yourself at the same time. You can't afford health care, even if you're both working or, if you can afford health care, you can't afford good health care and therefore can't afford your deductibles. This is, I believe, one of the leading factors in our society which makes it so prone to violence. If we had a health care system like, say, Canada, the UK, Cuba, France, and pretty much every other industrialized country (and even some which aren't. i.e. Cuba) then quality of life would skyrocket. Healthy people are just happier. It would lower anxiety and worry among lower class Americans (what an awful term to use... lower class, as if the upper class were really better people). I know in my household, half the fights we have are because we're touchy or worried about money in relation to health, dental, and vision care.

Another factor that leads to a nation of unhappy criminals is a poor education system. Among industrialized countries, America has one of the worst. It's simply a statistical fact that less educated people are more likely to commit violent crimes and simply statistical that many African American children are more likely to have a poorer education. The Bush administration would like you to put more emphasis on private schooling in order to get your child a good education, but this is simply unrealistic. (Stay tune for my next blog about the No child left behind act which elaborates more on bush's idiocy) The reality is that most of our children are learning from public schools and these schools are just not doing their jobs, mostly because they're all poor. Schools are some of the first places to be hit by federal cut backs. In my high school, teachers had to buy their own paper, staples, dry erase markers, and other materials that should not have been their responsibility.

Other than the poor education received by students in grades K-12, many students cannot afford to continue their education. Many places around the world, including most of Europe, have a complete socialized education system. Socialized simply means the government pays for it. Many people are objectionable to socialized anything without realizing that most of our education system is already there (though poorly so). The next step is to create a free college education. Again, better educated people are less likely to commit violent crimes.

Now let's get a little more indirect. We know some of the problems in America that breed violence, but what causes these problems? My theory? Fundamentalism. Who's against socialize health care? Fundamentalists and Republicans (which are often one and the same), mostly. Who's against funding our public schools? You guessed it.. Fundamentalists and Republicans. The nice happy countries with lower violence rates are all more liberal than America. Most of the prisoners in jail system are devout Christians. Perhaps this is because Christianity advocates not taking responsibility for your actions (i.e. the devil made me do it or, it doesn't matter cause God will forgive me.). Monotheistic religions are the only religions which say you can be a horrible person in life and still be rewarded for it.

Many people will say, "But if you're really Christian you wouldn't break the law". Well yes, but as I said earlier, we don't live in a completely conservative society. Many Christians aren't very Christian at all. Unfortunately these people haven't learned to think for themselves because the real Christians don't want to fund education or health care.

I highly recommend watching Michael Moore's movies, Bowling for Columbine (which can be found on YouTube) and Sicko (a few parts of this movie can also be found on YouTube, though i'm not sure if all can).

Remember, think for yourselves. Love for yourselves.

Why I'm a Vegetarian

Someone on YouTube recently messaged me privately asking about vegetarianism. I wrote a reply and let my husband read it.. he told me it would make a great blog so here it is. Why I'm a vegetarian.



It's true that most vegetarians wouldn't eat meat regardless of how the animal was killed (even when talking about grown meat) because of health reasons. meat, for instance, (particularly pork and red meat) are linked to pancreatic cancer, heart disease, mental degenerative diseases, impotence, colon cancer, and stroke.. just to name a few.

The production of meat creates HUGE amounts of greenhouse gases. Eating meat not only destroys ourselves, but it destroys our home. A meatarian is not only directly killing an average of 95 animals per year but contributes greatly to the extinction of species every day. Rainforests are being cleared for cattle farming because meat is in such high demand. I try more and more every day to live green and being vegetarian is a great step towards that.

as far as plants and pain are concerned. right now our current knowledge of pain is that pain is defined as electrical impulses interrupted by the brain as pain or discomfort. While it may or may not be true that plants feel pain, and as of right now the evidence is towards the not since they lack a nervous system or a brain, it's almost certain it would not be the same kind of pain that we feel. All people must eat something in order to survive and until we create a super pill to take care of our daily dietary needs, we have to cause the least harm possible.

We know that animals feel pain, we know they feel fear, they love, get depressed and they create attachments. Despite what meatarians believe, most animals are nor killed humanely. Slitting a throat is neither painless nor instant. The "bullet" (not an actual bullet but i forget the name of the device) must be used very precisely to kill instantly which it rarely is. Most of the time an animal takes up to a minute to die while seizureing and suffering during that time. Chickens are commonly killed by putting them in individual cages with holes in the top through which their heads go through and a giant chainsaw (for lack of a better word) sweeps across the cages and decapitates them. While this may be efficient and quick, you can hardly call it painless.

In addition to looking at the cruelty of the animal's deaths, we must also look at the cruelty of the animal's life. They are often forced to live in stalls or cages with little to no room to move. Veal, in fact are put into tiny cages where they are not allowed any muscle movement in order to keep them "tender". While a happy cow living as free roaming can live 25 years, most in the milk industry live only 6. I personally eat eggs, but I buy cage free eggs. Piggs are often packed into cages many at a time so that they are literally crawling over each other. The cruelty of the animal's lives are true in the meat industry as well as the dairy industry (unless you're from an agricultural town with it's own dairy farms and you can inspect them)

as to it being human nature to eat meat. it is human nature to survive and yes, humanity has eaten meat in order to do that but that certainly doesn't make it healthy or good for you. Meat sits in the human stomach longer than any other food and is harder to break down. It's linked to more diseases than any other natural food. Other natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, etc all have health benefits and healing properties. Meat does not. I appreciate the need for meat to survive. If i depended on it for my survival I would eat it (i may not be able to kill it.. but that's what husbands are for).

From a spiritual point of view, Buddhists don't eat meat, Hindus don't eat meat, Jews and Muslims don't eat beef or pork. Why is Christianity the only major religion that does? These other religions must know something that they don't

Don't get me wrong, to be a healthy vegetarian you have to study.. a LOT and find out just what foods you need to eat. But once you do that, the rewards are vast and many. Vegetarianism has been around all throughout history. Such well known people as, Einstein, Pythagoras, Plato, Susan B Anthony, Gandhi, Buddha and many other intellectuals, spiritualists and leaders throughout time were vegetarians. The most beautiful writings, poems, and songs through time are about peace, love and the ability to live and let live.

xVenomFangx, I love you.

You make me laugh as I've never laughed before. You're cute, and absolutely unwilling to waiver on your beliefs.

For those of you who don't know mr xvenomfangx, he is a youtuber who has many many videos dedicated to proving Christianity. He is a creationist and also runs his own website, thewaythetruth.com. Now, for many of his videos, comments have been disabled, so i'll address them here.

the first video i'll address is Satan Invented Evolution, part one


First, you ask the question, do you believe that kissing a frog makes a prince? yes, I do believe that a frog can turn into a prince. Isn't that the only hope women have left? hehe.. no, but in all seriousness.. no.. no they can't.
2, here, you point out that the humanistic view supports the big bang (or similar) theories and the creationist view says that someone must have done this through magic and someone must be wrong. yes, someone is wrong... I think I know who...*wink, wink*
3, wait.. i'll be back after I eat lunch...
oh, that was yummy..where was I? oh yeah.. number 3. you pose some questions.
who am i? i am protoplasm with a personality and I can make the world a better place for myself, my family, and my community.
what am I worth? I am worth everything to my family and those who love me. okay, wait.. i agree with the pollution thing.. the more of us we get rid of, the better.
where did I come from? well, you see venom.. when a man and a woman love.. well... like.. okay.. are really horny, then one half of each of their DNA combines to make a baby.
next...WOAH!!! What the hell? Did you just say that people who believe in evolution might as well go murder someone? Dude.. you're seriously messed up. Do you really think that our morals are governed by God? In fact, when you do something good for another person, it activates parts of your brain associated with food and sex and releases those feel good endorphines. Even monkeys, those wonderful primates who share 99% of our DNA, have innate, hardwired morals.

anyway.. back on topic. where do i go when I die? well, an athiest will say into the ground. I am not athiest, i am pagan.. so I say reincarnated. (am i really only 2 minutes into this video? feels like a lifetime..)

4. you are saying the devil calls god a liar when he tells eve she won't die if she eats the fruit because god said she would die. But she ate it and she didn't die, did she? So.. God is in fact.. a liar.

5. Adolf Hitler said "if you tell a lie long enough, loud enough, and often enough, people will believe it" Kind of like how the sunday school teacher tells you loudly, often, and for a very long time that God is real and the bible is real and it's all very literal.

6. *in spooky voice* "four and a half biiiiilion years ago!" So.. just how old do you think the earth is?

7. you're saying that over a hundred years ago, people with little education who thought the earth was 10 thousand years old, know more than all educated people, all scientists and all scientific methods which now say the earth is 4.5 billion years old? are you saying that you can't believe something that you don't see? (ya know.. when you said, were you there? did you see it?) Well that's wonderful news! that means that I don't have to believe in God until I see him!

8. talking about the big bang.. "there's no way to observe it, obviously, and no way to prove that it happened" Wow.. how can you use logic like this on evolution but not on Christianity? No one has seen God and you can't prove that he exists! and AGAIN! when you talk about how we don't know how stars form.. saying that the theories aren't founded in fact, but in fantasy.. what do you call christianity?

8. on the subject of macro evolution.. "we've never seen a monkey give birth to a human" wow... i'm not sure you even understand the concept of evolution... so how can you be arguing it? Evolutionists do NOT think that one animal gives birth to another type of animal.

9. you ask where did god come from and point out that there has to be something that always existed.. so.. why couldn't the universe have just.. always been there? what makes that any more of a fairy tale than saying the flying spaghetti monster created the universe?

oh geeze.. i do love you venom... you make me laugh oh so much.. and you make me so confident and sure that there is no God. Thank you.

The skinny on being skinny, part 1

All across the world, men and women are obsessed with beauty. It's oozed and crept into every facet of our lives to the point that 1 in 5 Americans, including children have some sort of mental disorder. We see size zero models dance across our screen, magazines and billboards in a flurry of elegance, beauty and wealth. Men see these and say "wow.. i'd sure like my gal to look like that" and women see it and say "wow, if i don't look like that I'll never find love or be happy" and unfortunately our children think the same things. We have children as young as three years old developing low self esteem, poor body image and disorders such as depression, over eating and bulimia or anorexia. Our children are being told at younger and younger ages that they should look like these models. This is seen in Pre teen sensations like Hannah Montana and Hillary Duff, and with commercial products like Nair Pretty (so your ten your old's coochie can be nice and smooth). Children are having sex younger and younger, girls are getting their periods younger as well as their bodies react to the sexual stimulus around them. In one case in 1995 an eight year old girl got pregnant while having sex with another eight year old on the playground behind a tree. The baby, of course, had to be aborted because there's no way an eight year old's body can handle childbirth. But think about that for a second.. think about a nine year old mother. Can you imagine it? I can't.

Apart from the mental damage that's being done to the general population, there's the issue of the model's health. many models, striving to be that perfect size (size zero) develop eating disorders and drug problems. Cocaine is a nice fast way to shed a few pounds. So is speed. Models are literally dying to be thin.

Let's forget about models for a second and think about the average person. After all, I already did a piece on modeling. This is a piece on weight and health in general. Most doctors or nutritionists, when they want to see how healthy you are, check your BMI or body mass index. Underweight is defined as a BMI of less than 18.5, normal defined as up to 25, overweight up to 30, obese up to 40 and morbidly obese is anything over that. The biggest problem with judging a person's health based on this system is that it doesn't take into account bone density, muscle mass or fluid retention. Here's an example of someone, based on their BMI, who's morbidly obese: (picture to the right). Now that really doesn't seem right, does it? If that's morbidly obese then what's obese? Hell, what's normal? This scale, not only doesn't take other factors into account, but is also severely outdated. It doesn't matter how skinny or fat you are, your health is not directly related. For example, did you see the episode of Opera with the fat aerobics instructor? In fact, this is a growing trend all across the US. Personal trainers and aerobics instructors alike are no longer rail thin. Being trim and muscular has little to do with being cardiovascular fit. What is that? It means that your heart is healthy and your arteries are unclogged (which is the only reason that being overweight is supposedly a problem). There are many skinny-fat people in the world. People who are thin and look completely healthy but have little muscle and almost pure body fat with clogged arteries galore!

There's such a stigma in our society and weight and health are always 100% related and they're wrong. In fact, from an evolutionary standpoint, being skinny is about as unhealthy as you can get. If you're thin and eat tons then you have a racing fast metabolism. Good for you, right? But, if something were to happen where you had less food, you'd be out of luck. During a famine you'd be the first to die and if you were suddenly to become dirt poor with no help, you'd cost way too much to feed. In many places around the world fat is still seen as the ultimate beauty because larger women are better for baring healthy children and they're easier to take care of. (In a hunter gatherer society a fat person would have needed far less care than a skinny person, maybe this is why thin people today are still seen as high maintenance)

What's more, a study conducted in 2000 by the nobel prize-winning genetecist who was jointly responsible for discovering the structure of DNA, found that overweight men and women are generally happier and have better sex. Extra fat has the added bonus of boosting endorphines, those chemicals in the body that make you happy and stimulates sexual desire. Watson (our geneticist), theorized that long ago men would have spent most of their time looking for food. The reward for all this gathering would be eating and gaining weight, meaning that a thin man would need to spend more time hunting and was less successful. Watson concludes, that in evolutionary terms, thing equals discontent.

Think about it, who's ever seen a thin Santa Clause? Think about a grandma, isn't she usually plump and smiling, getting ready to bake fresh cookies? What's your idea of the typical grumpy old man? He's thin and bony, always scowling. There's a stereotype that fat people always have a good sense of humor and that they have better personalities. How many times have you heard someone say that if you see a knockout babe that has a good personality, she must have been fat at some point. (There's a good example in Shallow Hal)

One thing i'm not saying is that it's okay to be unhealthy at any weight. I'm not saying celebrate being fat no matter what. I'm sayig celebrate your health, no matter what. If you're fat and healthy then go with it! If you're thin and healthy then go with it! But don't think that your weight makes you unhealthy (within reason).

The skinny on being skinny, part 2

Every one of these girls is underweight and unhealthy. You cans see ribs and hip bones sticking out.

who wears short shorts?

Your 10 year old, that's who! Nair has come out with a new product called Nair Pretty, targeted at little girls between the ages of 10 and 15. "Because Pretty isn't a look, it's a feeling" is their slogan. According to the Q&A section " application is simple and removing hair (especially in hard-to-reach areas) is a snap! " excuse me? what hard to reach areas should a child just hitting puberty be removing hair from? Can someone explain to me WHY a ten year old needs to have a nice smooth hooha?

As if the world of pre pubescent beauty pageants weren't bad enough, perpetuating an image of your sweet little daughter as a grown up sex symbol. What mother in her right mind would encourage her daughter to use this product? The last thing we need in today's sex driven male society is somebody telling out daughters how unnatural body hair is and how ashamed they should be. My guess is the same women who are applying caustic chemicals to their child's hooha are the same ones dressing them in skimpy outfits and putting makeup on them. Is it any wonder that ramsy girl was raped and killed? It's like begging pedophiles to come and have a go at your kid.

Look at this kid to the left? How old is she? five? How old does she look? Fifteen? I could do a whole series of blogs about beauty pageant moms and the damage they're inflicting on their children, but this blog is only for Nair, which I am now boycotting.

“So you’re at an age when the childhood fuzz is becoming thicker and coarser hair. It’s time to give some serious thought to removing it.” One question: Why? When we were ten (i'm 22 now) I wasn't even thinking about body hair! Boys were still icky and had cooties! Ten years old is fifth grade.. not even out of grade school and already worrying about what'll happen if some boy wants to feel their "radiantly smooth legs" (quote from the Nair site) and they find *gasp* hair!

Everywhere our children look these days they see sex (pageants, bratz, media, and other kids to name a few), do we really need to make it worse by assuring them that they can be as smooth as all the beautiful people in cosmo girl magazine which gave this product the "kiss of approval". Seriously.. how sexy do you want your little girl to be?