It happens often; some person makes a statement or tells a so-called joke that either exploits a stereotype or invokes a disparaging racial slur. When called out on it, almost invariably "Dude, it's just a joke!" pops out. Sometimes the person even has the grace to blush or stammer out a weak excuse about how they were just trying to lighten the mood... whatever the hell that means. This never impresses me.
When I was younger, and far more ignorant, I tried to be racist. I really sucked at it, yet I still used such language and attitudes.
This is to my shame and I cannot express how badly I feel about such actions and attitudes I once held. This isn't a case of "White Guilt" or "PC" or any other such nonsense that people with racist tendencies love to attribute criticism of themselves to.
People are simply people. Many of the best people in my life could have been simply dismissed as belonging to a stereotypical group. My life would be so much poorer had I not seen beyond the pale reflections that society imposes on the unsuspecting minds and attitudes in popular culture.
So many poets are lost to fame because their medium is looked down on as some negative racial characteristic. So many natural mathematicians are overlooked because they are raised in poverty or in "one of those" neighbourhoods. So many loving people are kept at arms length because they have a "wrong" skin tone or clothing style.
Very little disappoints me as much as someone I consider a friend tossing out a racial joke or commenting on some apparent stereotype. It doesn't matter if you apologise afterwards. I have a very mixed family, and I'm incredibly proud and pleased to know (and be related to) people of all stripes.
Once you let that obscene thought out of your mouth, you have just diminished my friends, my family, and often my role models. Worse yet, you have made me wonder just how poor a judge of character I am by accepting you in my life.
Before you make an "off colour" joke, I'd like you to ask yourself a very simple question. How would you feel if that were your daughter or your mother or your twin that was "joked" about? How would you feel if this happened, not just once, but routinely and on a societal level? If you couldn't care less, guess what? I couldn't care less about you either. But if you can honestly apply it to yourself or your family and see the problem, then please don't be silent when others do so.
We only accept these things when we don't think about the causes or results.
Many things were once acceptable, until we stopped accepting them. It's past time to stop accepting jokes and attitudes that do nothing but diminish others.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Keeping Marriage Safe
As I was going to the store, I saw a very small group of people holding signs that said "Support God and help prevent the attack o n marriage." I congratulated them on their efforts to make divorce illegal and asked what penalties that they are proposing against the Kardashians, Britney Spears, and other repeat offenders. For some reason, they became quite angry.
I pointed out that the only assault on marriage is in fact divorce; notably serial divorcees.
They attempted to correct me by claiming that gay marriage is an assault on marriage. When I pointed out that gay marriage actually allowed marriage to profligate, to increase the number of committed relationships, the all too common "But it's unnatural" and "It's against normal marriage" arguments came out.
Sadly, my leg and the pain it causes me prevented me from returning with my camera to document both the signs and the idiot arguments. Please rest assured that I will no longer be leaving the house without the camera, these people are just too good as fodder to be allowed to act and speak about topics without being challenged.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Warning: Vitriol
She is utterly worthless, and always has been. My error was not recognising that she'd never change for the better.
She is an utter waste of resources; food, water, and oxygen.
Every bowel movement I have is more worthwhile, and will have a greater positive impact on society, than she can ever dream of being or having.
I'd call her a septic tank leech, yet that would unnecessarily insult blood sucking parasites everywhere.
That nasty stuff found between one's toes after days of hiking and lacking a bath is better for a person to cultivate than a single moment in her presence.
She is an utter waste of resources; food, water, and oxygen.
Every bowel movement I have is more worthwhile, and will have a greater positive impact on society, than she can ever dream of being or having.
I'd call her a septic tank leech, yet that would unnecessarily insult blood sucking parasites everywhere.
That nasty stuff found between one's toes after days of hiking and lacking a bath is better for a person to cultivate than a single moment in her presence.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
A moronic Libertarian solution to gas prices
This is an article, and I use the term loosely, in which a person not only denies reality, physics, geology, and basic politics, but also assumes that you have no access to actual knowledge. My rebuttals follow each ridiculously stupid point. This must have been written by a Ron Paul supporter.
Speaking of bumper stickers, remember “Yes We Can”, Mr. President? No one understands the concept better than the oil and gas industry. The main thing holding domestic energy companies back from making a stronger commitment to future domestic supplies is uncertainty. Capital hates uncertainty, avoids it like the plague. Your rhetoric may appease your doctrinaire base, but it makes domestic energy producers hold back, fearful that you will punish their success, or that you will change the rules on them in the middle of the game.
Erasing uncertainty is the #1 thing you can do as a national leader if you truly desire to lower gasoline prices. Not only could it change the psychology of energy investing, there is still time for companies to change their 2012 investment plans.
Below the fold is my humble 10-point plan: Things President Obama could (but won’t) do to reduce domestic gasoline prices by November 2012.
This is my response to this flaming moron. His statements and words are in italics, mine are normal. I find this to be good because his are based in fantasy land and mine are… well… based in reality.
1)Commit to a strategic goal of North American energy security. That includes reasonable and responsible domestic drilling. That includes taking the lead on the Keystone XL Pipeline; we could find a way to make it happen while addressing the legitimate environmental concerns of Nebraskans. It includes a commitment to maintaining the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and opening ANWR.
Fuck NO! The Keystone pipeline will be based on previous designs, all of which leak routinely and some, like the Wyoming pipeline (same company), leaked 12 times in the first year and a half alone. This pipeline is meant to be built directly above/through North America’s largest aquifer. Add to this that this oil will not be destined for USA gasoline, it is marked for export. America’s number one manufactured export is gasoline. If you want the gas prices to lower, insist that oil companies be forced to pay export fees. You’ll suddenly see prices drop due to available excess.
Opening ANWAR, which btw is being drilled as I type this, to unrestrained drilling will do nothing but destroy a region and ecosystem. Already we produce enough gasoline to have it as our number one manufactured export. Rather than promote policies that allow oil companies to destroy more land, why don’t we insist that the results be used and available here?
2)Ditch the anti-industry, anti-capitalist rhetoric. It is not the President’s or the government’s place to decide when an industry’s profitability is “high enough”. High oil company profits fund more drilling; more drilling means more future supply and lower prices. Besides, American oil companies are not owned by a cabal of wealthy executives, but by America’s pension funds, mutual funds and private investment accounts. “They” are “us”.
They are us? Are you fucking kidding me? The oil companies pay dividends to a very small group of investors. Koch and friends have paid for politicians and governors in numerous states who have ended union, retirement, and investment accounts.
Yes, the government should step in when insider trading and monopolies gouge the common folk. That is actually written in to every facet of American law… right up until this recent mockery of a Supreme Court. Not only this, but one fact seems to escape the standard moron… errmmm…. Libertarian…. talking points. Obama has granted more drilling allowances and permits than Shrub did, after less than four years.
3)Stop targeting the oil industry for punitive tax treatment. States such as Texas and Louisiana have production tax abatement programs that have successfully encouraged new drilling. If you don’t believe that the threat of increased taxes discourages drilling, just ask Governor Perry or Governor Jindal.
Taxes do two things that should happen! They force companies to pay for public resources that the companies exploit and encourage other activities.
Drilling is not the goddamn issue!
The issue is that speculators and oil companies have an agenda, and that agenda is taking your money. This is not some mysterious lack of product or production, it is gouging. If you want more drilling, demand that some of what we produce stays here in America. Then, when we have a glut, argue that we need more drilling.
4)Realize that Uncle Sam is in the energy business and is a partner in industry’s success. Oil and gas royalties are the federal government’s #2 source of revenue, after the income tax. Offshore slowdowns hurt not only industry and jobs, but government revenue.
This isn’t an issue of revenue. The top oil companies paid less in total federal taxes than a single warehouse worker. They paid none. In fact, they received subsidies. Not only that, they also accepted many tens of millions of dollars in tax refunds. Quit the lie about government revenue, the tax-payers are hemorrhaging money to oil companies, both at the pump and when we pay taxes.
5)Recognize that industry does not need to be led by government; industry needs to be unleashed and encouraged to innovate. The resurgence of the domestic energy sector was rooted in the private sector, not matter how much President Obama and Dr. Chu would like to take credit for it. The growth in North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas happened in spite of the federal government, not because of it.
More Libertarian claptrap. This is not even slightly truthful or based in reality. Industry needs to be controlled by a firm national structure; or else Gingrich, Romney, and Paul will get their wish and small children will again be forced to work in mines and fields.
6)Trust that no oil operator wants to be the “next BP”. The BP spill cost that company something on the order of $40 billion. Industry safety and environmental commitment is motivated more out of self-interest and less out of fear of the government. When it comes to federal regulation, the nation would be better served by Sheriff Taylor, not Barney Fife.
More bullshit. A company that earned $60 billion in a single quarter of a year and tossed much of the cost of this particular cleanup onto the American taxpayer doesn’t give a damn about that spill. It still hasn’t refunded the government or even paid out 1/10 of suits that have been found against it. Ron Paul is Barney Fife, I prefer to have real policing organisations against these corporations.
7)Return offshore permitting to the pre-Macondo pace. Your overreaction to the BP Spill has cost on the order of 500,000 barrels per day of domestic oil production from the Gulf of Mexico. The ridiculous “Worst Case Discharge” calculation as a routine part of offshore permitting is engineering malpractice, in my humble opinion. The professional staff of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is capable of reasoned regulation, but they currently operate in fear of their political masters.
WTF? The rational, science knowledgeable, concerned people are upset at Obama for allowing so much drilling! He is set to break records for allowances! Yet again: Our number one manufactured export is gasoline! Production is not the issue!
8)Declare hydraulic fracturing & well design to be the regulatory domain of the states, not the EPA. Geology and environment vary widely; Pennsylvania is not Louisiana is not North Dakota is not California. It is insanity to think that one broadly-applied set of rules can be applied to regulate industry without suffocating development.
No. Absolutely not. Places like Texas and Arizona would be deathtraps. Geologic features might change, but geology doesn’t. Fracking destroys land and water tables, this isn’t up for debate and no credible scientist says that it is. There is no possible development that would make fracking worthwhile. It’s like murdering a child so that she never get her heart broken, a very fucked up concept.
9)Rescind the recently-enacted royalty rate increase for new onshore Federal oil and gas leases. Secretary Salazar’s stated rationale for increasing the government’s take by a whopping 50% – from 12.5% to 18.75% of gross production – was to equate onshore royalties with the offshore royalty rate. That makes no sense. Higher royalties mean less drilling, poorer economics of production and premature abandonment of wells. Besides, an IHS-CERA Study recently showed that the federal government’s total take of offshore cash flows makes the Gulf of Mexico the second-most punitive fiscal regime in the world, after Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. [Update: In keeping with the First Rule of Holes, rolling back the royalty rate increase may be the first thing the government should do if it is serious about reducing energy prices. - Ed.]
I think this incredible stupidity has been addressed well enough above.
10)Encourage development of a nationwide distribution system of natural gas as a transportation fuel. Natural gas is clean, abundant and nearly 100% domestic. Its potential as a transportation fuel has scarcely been tapped.
Holy Hell! I can’t believe this nonsense is still being promoted! Natural gas is “cleaner,” not clean. Fracking and other extraction methods destroy water tables and regions and burning the gas emits tonnes of pollutants. Less than coal and oil, but nowhere near clean.
Bonus #11: Get real about the promise of alternative fuels. Recently you said: “You’ve got a bunch of algae out there; If we can figure out how to make energy out of that, we’ll be doing alright.” Maybe so, but I will stick my neck out and say it ain’t gonna happen, at least not in my lifetime, not on a scale that will impact pump prices.
And here I end, with a very serious guffaw at the disingenuous liar that wrote this article. We have a president that is working very hard to promote alternative fuels and resources and is being blocked on every level. This writer’s interpretation seems to be that since Obama isn’t god, and can change the opposition on demand, he needs to be replaced by one of the fuckwits running for rethuglican candidate.
Speaking of bumper stickers, remember “Yes We Can”, Mr. President? No one understands the concept better than the oil and gas industry. The main thing holding domestic energy companies back from making a stronger commitment to future domestic supplies is uncertainty. Capital hates uncertainty, avoids it like the plague. Your rhetoric may appease your doctrinaire base, but it makes domestic energy producers hold back, fearful that you will punish their success, or that you will change the rules on them in the middle of the game.
Erasing uncertainty is the #1 thing you can do as a national leader if you truly desire to lower gasoline prices. Not only could it change the psychology of energy investing, there is still time for companies to change their 2012 investment plans.
Below the fold is my humble 10-point plan: Things President Obama could (but won’t) do to reduce domestic gasoline prices by November 2012.
This is my response to this flaming moron. His statements and words are in italics, mine are normal. I find this to be good because his are based in fantasy land and mine are… well… based in reality.
1)Commit to a strategic goal of North American energy security. That includes reasonable and responsible domestic drilling. That includes taking the lead on the Keystone XL Pipeline; we could find a way to make it happen while addressing the legitimate environmental concerns of Nebraskans. It includes a commitment to maintaining the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and opening ANWR.
Fuck NO! The Keystone pipeline will be based on previous designs, all of which leak routinely and some, like the Wyoming pipeline (same company), leaked 12 times in the first year and a half alone. This pipeline is meant to be built directly above/through North America’s largest aquifer. Add to this that this oil will not be destined for USA gasoline, it is marked for export. America’s number one manufactured export is gasoline. If you want the gas prices to lower, insist that oil companies be forced to pay export fees. You’ll suddenly see prices drop due to available excess.
Opening ANWAR, which btw is being drilled as I type this, to unrestrained drilling will do nothing but destroy a region and ecosystem. Already we produce enough gasoline to have it as our number one manufactured export. Rather than promote policies that allow oil companies to destroy more land, why don’t we insist that the results be used and available here?
2)Ditch the anti-industry, anti-capitalist rhetoric. It is not the President’s or the government’s place to decide when an industry’s profitability is “high enough”. High oil company profits fund more drilling; more drilling means more future supply and lower prices. Besides, American oil companies are not owned by a cabal of wealthy executives, but by America’s pension funds, mutual funds and private investment accounts. “They” are “us”.
They are us? Are you fucking kidding me? The oil companies pay dividends to a very small group of investors. Koch and friends have paid for politicians and governors in numerous states who have ended union, retirement, and investment accounts.
Yes, the government should step in when insider trading and monopolies gouge the common folk. That is actually written in to every facet of American law… right up until this recent mockery of a Supreme Court. Not only this, but one fact seems to escape the standard moron… errmmm…. Libertarian…. talking points. Obama has granted more drilling allowances and permits than Shrub did, after less than four years.
3)Stop targeting the oil industry for punitive tax treatment. States such as Texas and Louisiana have production tax abatement programs that have successfully encouraged new drilling. If you don’t believe that the threat of increased taxes discourages drilling, just ask Governor Perry or Governor Jindal.
Taxes do two things that should happen! They force companies to pay for public resources that the companies exploit and encourage other activities.
Drilling is not the goddamn issue!
The issue is that speculators and oil companies have an agenda, and that agenda is taking your money. This is not some mysterious lack of product or production, it is gouging. If you want more drilling, demand that some of what we produce stays here in America. Then, when we have a glut, argue that we need more drilling.
4)Realize that Uncle Sam is in the energy business and is a partner in industry’s success. Oil and gas royalties are the federal government’s #2 source of revenue, after the income tax. Offshore slowdowns hurt not only industry and jobs, but government revenue.
This isn’t an issue of revenue. The top oil companies paid less in total federal taxes than a single warehouse worker. They paid none. In fact, they received subsidies. Not only that, they also accepted many tens of millions of dollars in tax refunds. Quit the lie about government revenue, the tax-payers are hemorrhaging money to oil companies, both at the pump and when we pay taxes.
5)Recognize that industry does not need to be led by government; industry needs to be unleashed and encouraged to innovate. The resurgence of the domestic energy sector was rooted in the private sector, not matter how much President Obama and Dr. Chu would like to take credit for it. The growth in North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas happened in spite of the federal government, not because of it.
More Libertarian claptrap. This is not even slightly truthful or based in reality. Industry needs to be controlled by a firm national structure; or else Gingrich, Romney, and Paul will get their wish and small children will again be forced to work in mines and fields.
6)Trust that no oil operator wants to be the “next BP”. The BP spill cost that company something on the order of $40 billion. Industry safety and environmental commitment is motivated more out of self-interest and less out of fear of the government. When it comes to federal regulation, the nation would be better served by Sheriff Taylor, not Barney Fife.
More bullshit. A company that earned $60 billion in a single quarter of a year and tossed much of the cost of this particular cleanup onto the American taxpayer doesn’t give a damn about that spill. It still hasn’t refunded the government or even paid out 1/10 of suits that have been found against it. Ron Paul is Barney Fife, I prefer to have real policing organisations against these corporations.
7)Return offshore permitting to the pre-Macondo pace. Your overreaction to the BP Spill has cost on the order of 500,000 barrels per day of domestic oil production from the Gulf of Mexico. The ridiculous “Worst Case Discharge” calculation as a routine part of offshore permitting is engineering malpractice, in my humble opinion. The professional staff of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is capable of reasoned regulation, but they currently operate in fear of their political masters.
WTF? The rational, science knowledgeable, concerned people are upset at Obama for allowing so much drilling! He is set to break records for allowances! Yet again: Our number one manufactured export is gasoline! Production is not the issue!
8)Declare hydraulic fracturing & well design to be the regulatory domain of the states, not the EPA. Geology and environment vary widely; Pennsylvania is not Louisiana is not North Dakota is not California. It is insanity to think that one broadly-applied set of rules can be applied to regulate industry without suffocating development.
No. Absolutely not. Places like Texas and Arizona would be deathtraps. Geologic features might change, but geology doesn’t. Fracking destroys land and water tables, this isn’t up for debate and no credible scientist says that it is. There is no possible development that would make fracking worthwhile. It’s like murdering a child so that she never get her heart broken, a very fucked up concept.
9)Rescind the recently-enacted royalty rate increase for new onshore Federal oil and gas leases. Secretary Salazar’s stated rationale for increasing the government’s take by a whopping 50% – from 12.5% to 18.75% of gross production – was to equate onshore royalties with the offshore royalty rate. That makes no sense. Higher royalties mean less drilling, poorer economics of production and premature abandonment of wells. Besides, an IHS-CERA Study recently showed that the federal government’s total take of offshore cash flows makes the Gulf of Mexico the second-most punitive fiscal regime in the world, after Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. [Update: In keeping with the First Rule of Holes, rolling back the royalty rate increase may be the first thing the government should do if it is serious about reducing energy prices. - Ed.]
I think this incredible stupidity has been addressed well enough above.
10)Encourage development of a nationwide distribution system of natural gas as a transportation fuel. Natural gas is clean, abundant and nearly 100% domestic. Its potential as a transportation fuel has scarcely been tapped.
Holy Hell! I can’t believe this nonsense is still being promoted! Natural gas is “cleaner,” not clean. Fracking and other extraction methods destroy water tables and regions and burning the gas emits tonnes of pollutants. Less than coal and oil, but nowhere near clean.
Bonus #11: Get real about the promise of alternative fuels. Recently you said: “You’ve got a bunch of algae out there; If we can figure out how to make energy out of that, we’ll be doing alright.” Maybe so, but I will stick my neck out and say it ain’t gonna happen, at least not in my lifetime, not on a scale that will impact pump prices.
And here I end, with a very serious guffaw at the disingenuous liar that wrote this article. We have a president that is working very hard to promote alternative fuels and resources and is being blocked on every level. This writer’s interpretation seems to be that since Obama isn’t god, and can change the opposition on demand, he needs to be replaced by one of the fuckwits running for rethuglican candidate.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The War on Religion
Catholic view: The death penalty is immoral.
Liberal view: I agree.
Conservative view: We'll just have to disagree.
Catholic view: Anti-immigrant laws are immoral.
Liberal view: I agree.
Conservative view: We'll just have to disagree.
Catholic view: Torture is immoral.
Liberal view: I agree.
Conservative view: We'll just have to disagree.
Catholic view: Society should care for the poor.
Liberal view: I agree.
Conservative view: We'll just have to disagree.
Catholic view: Contraceptives are immoral.
Liberal view: I disagree.
Conservative view: OMG This liberal is waging war on religious freedom!!
Liberal view: I agree.
Conservative view: We'll just have to disagree.
Catholic view: Anti-immigrant laws are immoral.
Liberal view: I agree.
Conservative view: We'll just have to disagree.
Catholic view: Torture is immoral.
Liberal view: I agree.
Conservative view: We'll just have to disagree.
Catholic view: Society should care for the poor.
Liberal view: I agree.
Conservative view: We'll just have to disagree.
Catholic view: Contraceptives are immoral.
Liberal view: I disagree.
Conservative view: OMG This liberal is waging war on religious freedom!!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Cremation and Education
I’m a firm supporter of cremation. There are two reasons, one obvious and one might not be.
1) It’s far better to not take up space and rot inside containers meant to prevent your body from returning to the general pool of resource that we all came from.
2) What better way to explain the basic concepts of chemistry and reality than to have a child be able to see the basic components of a loved family member? That might sound odd, but think about it.
When your loved one dies, you have a choice. Bury or burn. If you bury, a child might have a place to visit once in a while, but no real connection to the death or to the science behind it. If you cremate, you can have a vessel that contains the most basic components of a loved one. Explaining how humans are built from a limited number of elements, and how those elements survive or don’t survive immolation can be a very educational factor.
Too many children are fed platitudes and bullshit when a death occurs. Take the opportunity to allow your family's children to experience the remains in a non-gruesome fashion. Give them an attachment to chemistry and reality at the same time. Let them become accustomed to loss by not actually losing all of the person that died.
1) It’s far better to not take up space and rot inside containers meant to prevent your body from returning to the general pool of resource that we all came from.
2) What better way to explain the basic concepts of chemistry and reality than to have a child be able to see the basic components of a loved family member? That might sound odd, but think about it.
When your loved one dies, you have a choice. Bury or burn. If you bury, a child might have a place to visit once in a while, but no real connection to the death or to the science behind it. If you cremate, you can have a vessel that contains the most basic components of a loved one. Explaining how humans are built from a limited number of elements, and how those elements survive or don’t survive immolation can be a very educational factor.
Too many children are fed platitudes and bullshit when a death occurs. Take the opportunity to allow your family's children to experience the remains in a non-gruesome fashion. Give them an attachment to chemistry and reality at the same time. Let them become accustomed to loss by not actually losing all of the person that died.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Concepts and Misperceptions of Butter
One of the sad ironies of the modern age is the fact that people think I Can't Beleive It's Not butter and "Movie Butter Popcorn" tastes like butter. They simply don't. It's odd when I make a dish using real butter and someone complains about my using a margarine. Much like my generation grew up thinking that Sullivan said "Really big shew" when he never did, the current generation doesn't even know what butter tastes like because the butter alternatives have created a misconception!
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