Non Event of the Week

I suppose the inanity of the news media shouldn't shock me anymore, but the piety and general stupidity of the coverage of the Pope's visit is out of fucking control.


And what Papal visit wouldn't be complete without a visit to our dear president? In this meeting of the minds, President Chimpy McDumshit calls us a "nation of prayer". I seriously wonder if this really is how much contempt he has for the general population. We're all making silent wishes to ourselves and if we don't get what we want then we either blame other people or wish harder next time.

The worst part about this is watching these two sanctimonious fools pat themselves on the back and talk about how much respect they have for human lives. To one side you have a hideously wealthy old man who has everything handed to him on a silver platter who upholds policies and beliefs that are responsible for a great deal of human suffering. On the other side you had a hideously wealthy old man who has every handed to him on a silver platter who upholds policies and beliefs that are responsible for a great deal of human suffering. Oh, wait. I forgot which was which. I know one is the "shelters child abusers, preaches the sinfulness of condom use" guy, while the other is the "torture, war" guy.

My favorite science blogger, Pharyngula, has more:

"An obscenely wealthy old man heading an organization that protects child abusers and advocates horrendous and ignorant social practices that harm the poor all around the world would look utterly hypocritical even trying to rebuke a war-monger and apologist for torture. So instead he stands there and tells him that they share common principles founded in fear of a nebulous god. Those are 'principles' I reject — they seem to be nothing but labile excuses for doing as you will to anyone who falls under your thumb."

This is what I'm talking about...

...the egregious over-protecting of kids.

A principal at a Virginia school has banned the game of tag because the game was becoming more aggressive and too many kids ended up in the nurse's office.

I tend to think this is a symptom of both being sold fear and over-zealous litigation. I can just imagine a scenario where a student ends up in the nurse's office and then the student's parents sue the school for not breaking up the game of tag.

Gimme a break! Punish the individual but please let kids be kids.

Coolest mom ever.

I'm constantly amazed by the number of ways the media attempts to strike fear into parents. Before every 10:00 news on Fox 5 here in New York, a scary black and white PSA will run ominously asking, "It's 10PM. Do you know where your children are?" Manufacturers of child car seats and baby strollers make big money by playing off of parental fears.

Then there's this Manhattan mother who let her 9-year-old ride the subway by himself. And you know what? She's totally in the right. As risky a move as we're conditioned to believe it is, there's a better than 99.99% chance that kid is going to get home safely.

"These days, when a kid dies, the world — i.e., cable TV — blames the parents. It’s simple as that. And yet, Trevor Butterworth, a spokesman for the research center STATS.org, said, “The statistics show that this is an incredibly rare event, and you can’t protect people from very rare events. It would be like trying to create a shield against being struck by lightning.”...

...The problem with this everything-is-dangerous outlook is that over-protectiveness is a danger in and of itself. A child who thinks he can’t do anything on his own eventually can’t."

If you're not bitter, you're not paying attention.

Hey, go figure. There are some some bitter Pennsylvanians out there.

I've been catching up on election news today and I'm dumbfounded at the attention Barack Obama's "bitter" remarks are getting, in other words, stating the obvious. No shit, someone loses their job and is pissed off about the state of our country. Stop the fucking presses!

As I've said in this space before, it's entirely possible that Obama may be a total phony and could just be blowing smoke up the collective ass of this country, but this recent "controversy" (can I even call it that) just makes me want to vote for him even more. My mother lives out in rural Pennsylvania and I can tell you it's a pretty economically depressed place - and schools close for the first day of hunting season every year. Read: people are into guns. But are we supposed to take the idea that She Who Shall Not Be Named, the multi-millionaire, is a champion of the working class? That's a fucking joke. Oh, and I'm sure she shot little fury critters as a child just so her family had a bite to eat, just like I'm sure George W. is an expert at clearing brush.

To accuse Obama of being this aloof elitist is the same tripe voters got fed during the 2004 general election, and I'm tired of it. All I want during this year's election is to see that we can somehow get past that. This is why I view a vote for Obama is action to move past that. Meanwhile, this pathetic attempt by the Clinton campaign to paint voters into this monolithic red/blue divide is tired. Sadly, it does work. We'll see just how good it works next Tuesday.

"Pro-gun Church-goer"?

If someone can please tell me what the fundamental differences are between She Who Shall Not Be Named and our current president, I would like to know what they are.