picking up the pieces

My thoughts have been scattered between too many different blogs, and I don't have enough material to keep this one interesting. I'm now going to merge the best of each into a single place:

http://reverse-image.blogspot.com/

reluctant

...and by the way, don't confuse 'reluctant' for 'pussy'. I meant it tounge-in-cheek. If you don't like it, I will DECK YOU.

ground zero

I have only been a mere BFD lurker until recently, but wanted to crosspost this entry from my livejournal on May 3rd.

Nice. We can INVADE multiple countries to spread freedom and democracy, but we can't operate OUR OWN FUCKING POLLS.

http://www.brewedfreshdaily.com/2006/05/03/ground-zero

Comments:

"Hahaha. How dumb. That is why one of my first acts, when I take power, will be to get rid of voting entirely. Most people in this country are too stupid and/or selfish to vote responsibly anyway" - tiktiktok

"That is just sad." - hearsegirl

Thanks to Darby for the link. Other relevant articles:

hammeroftruth.com

cleveland.com

Log Cabin Republicans leader slams Bush

This goes back to June, but I still think it's important.

Log Cabin Republicans leader slams Bush. "Today, you desecrate America's house by using the White House grounds to denigrate part of the American family"

http://online.logcabin.org/news_views/reading-room-back-up/an-open-letter-to-president.html

Agree or Delete - part two

The next agree or delete email I received was "Robin Williams' Peace Plan". First of all, if you're remotely familiar with Robin Williams' material (both stand-up and movies), you would realize that he would never have made these statements. In case you doubt me, Snopes is always a great resource for confirming rumors: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/williams.asp Please forward this instead!

I especially like how the bogus author commands, "If you agree with the above, forward it... if not DELETE."

Bullshit.

The first items in this message are sarcastic reminders that through 'interference,' the US helped defeat many terrible dictators, and begs the question: What if the US was no longer their to help? There is no doubt that over the past millennium, brave Americans helped to right many wrongs across the globe. Is it necessary to give a sarcastic tone in regards to these great accomplishments, as if no one cared?

Saying that France would welcome our illegal aliens is absurd. Slamming the UN is pointless. Further down, there are some shocking undertones to this that disturb me.

There seems to be an over-all anti-Arab feeling to the whole thing that really bothers me ("pray to Allah or whomever", "We don't need any more cab drivers"). I have no problem with mild ethnic jokes when told with good intention, but they don't belong on a political statement like this.

The 'oil' item is pointless -- if big business and our elected leaders really cared about oil prices instead of their profits, they'd do something about it. Guess what? They don't.

I can generally agree with at least lowering our number of troops deployed world wide, but I have no real concept of what the impact would be.

I can generally agree with the ideas of cracking down on green-cards, and deporting illegal aliens. These ideas seem popular, so why haven't they happened yet? Again, I have no real concept of what the impact would be, so I'm reluctant in my agreement.

Speaking of people living off the system... What about generations of people living on welfare? Yikes. Oh yeah, I forgot... They're Americans, so it's OK.

Agree or Delete - part one

There are several chain-emails going around with witty sayings, ending with "If you agree, pass this on, if not delete." One recent example of this is 86% of Americans believe in God.

I'm not very good at following directions, so rather than agree or delete, I'm going to reply.

I'm not a religious person, nor am I offended by mentions of God on coins and architecture -- they're part of our culture and history as Americans. I think it is important, however, to remember that this country was founded on the principle of separation of church and state. Why? Because many European settlers came to the Americas to escape religious persecution.

I find it wildly ironic that Thomas Jefferson is quoted in this piece, as he was the author of the phrase "wall of separation between church and state".

I found an older copy of this chain-letter document on a site called faithonfire.org - faith on fire?! Come on...

Christianity in America isn't in any danger, and it's not going away any time soon. To claim there's a grave threat is ridiculous.

As Americans, we have the right to free speech and expression. Is it necessary to tell a small percentage of people who are vocally offended by phrases such as "In God we trust" and "one nation under God" that they should "Sit Down and SHUT UP?" What good is that going to do? We have far greater issues in this country to worry about.

banning MP3 streaming?

I love it when republicans and democrats work together to draft stupid bills: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004587.php