Telephone Rock'n'Roll

I am fucking gobsmacked

2010-02-18T23:19:00.003-05:00

Are you fucking kidding me?

"...you could make a case for college..."

YOU COULD MAKE A CASE FOR COLLEGE?!?!?!

I can't even begin to address all the epic fail featured in this video. But here goes nothin'...

No, Fox News, this study (just like everything you hold dear) is flawed. Disgustingly flawed.

To be fair, I have to read the study before I can pass informed judgement on it. However, going just by what Fox News has told me (which is never a good idea, but still), here are my conclusions. First of all, this test lacks any and all internal validity - it does not test what it was intended to test. If you want to test how students' political views have changed, you test them when they first start college, and then you test them again periodically until they graduate. Even then, if their views have changed, you can only conclude that there was a correlation between political stance and college education. I have taken enough psych classes to know that correlation does not equal causation (also to know how to conduct a scientifically responsible study). It may not have been the courses that "turned students liberal," it may have been exposure to peers that were more liberal, or getting away from fundie, fox-news-watchin' parents, or, heavens, perhaps they just thought about the issues and came to more liberal conclusions on their own. Or, since there are so many flaws in that argument and it didn't bother to test students' political views before college, they may have all been liberal in the first place. This study is so riddled with holes, I can only conclude that it was a victim of the Valentine's Day Massacre.

While I am ashamed, but not surprised, that that so many students can't answer basic, common knowledge questions, I have to say that that is not college's fault. Unless every one of the 14,000 students tested took some kind of US government class in college, there's no reason to have talked about that in any class. Nor does failure to learn those facts completely invalidate opinions. PS, do you suppose the study took into account that an equal number of high schoolers can't pass a basic citizenship test (even though US government classes are pretty standard for public high school curricula)? Or that (and I'm only guessing here) even fewer non-college graduates could pass said test?

I do have to say that I love the bottom line of this video: More educated people tend to be liberal.

2010-01-10T11:34:00.005-05:00

I know I'm a little late with this one, but I got into a discussion about it yesterday, and, well, it's my damn blog.

I was talking to a friend the other day who told me something to the effect of, "If Hilary had become president, I would have fled the country." This friend is not a hard-line republican, or a macho dude - on the contrary, this friend is an independent, intelligent, politically-moderate, ballet-dancin' woman. This friend also told me that she knows Hilary is a competent, unbelievably intelligent politician, but for reasons unknown, she is also "evil," and therefore, she should never be president. I can honestly say that I don't care about my politicians as people. I'll never meet them, let alone become buddies with them, so I don't care if they're manipulative, controlling, whatever. Take nice-guy President Carter: a lot of people consider him a failure as president (I personally think he was fairly lackluster, but not an embarrassment). Then take FDR who was, by all accounts, a really crappy human being - manipulative, secretive, dishonest, adulterous, and one of the greatest US presidents ever.

Hilary Clinton is the most divisive figure in the Democratic Party. Fact. And I think I know why. I used to think that it's because she's a woman and that people are frightened of powerful women, blah, blah, blah. But then Sarah Palin came onto the scene, and lots of people (even Man-types!) like her. So Hilary's vagina is clearly not the problem here. So, then, what could it be?

My guess is that people are put off by the fact that Hilary is not particularly feminine. At least, not in a traditional sense. She doesn't use her child for photo-ops, she doesn't rack up huge bills buying clothes, and she actually understands important issues. Sarah Palin, however, creates a far more feminine image of herself, i.e., she constantly plays the dutiful wife and mother and she's pretty.

So why does it matter so much if Hilary would probably not make a great shopping buddy? Because the bottom line is that the American people, maybe even most people everywhere, can accept a powerful woman, so long as she is a woman first and powerful second.

***While this little anecdote does deal with the same stuff, it's not really relevant to my argument.

A couple of years ago, when it was still between Hilary and Obama, my history teacher asked the class if they would not vote for Hilary because she is a woman. More than half the class raised their hands, including several girls. One lad, who surely has a blindingly bright future ahead of him, pointed out that she would be a terrible president because, as he put it, "...every month, she'd try to start a nuclear war with somebody!"

Not that I expect that cretin to ever read this blog, but here's what I would have liked to have said:
"First of all, it's not that easy to start a nuclear war. Secondly, I'm positive that Hilary does not menstruate any more. Finally, the stereotype that woman become irritable and irrational while menstruating is largely not true, but is propagated by men who are so frightened of people with vaginas that they feel the need to categorically discredit the actions, emotions, and opinions of women. Please go get castrated now."

Then I'd probably have to tell him what "propagated," "categorically," and "castrate" mean.

Police cite 81 people at underage party near IU -- chicagotribune.com

2009-12-07T00:20:00.002-05:00

Police cite 81 people at underage party near IU -- chicagotribune.com

Posted using ShareThis

Now, I could go on a rant about drinking laws in this country...that they are impractical and puritanical, and that the BPD have much better things to do with their time than bust 18-20 year-olds who really aren't causing any trouble, but I won't. I will say, though, that I was one of the 100+ people to get breathalyzed, but I was not one of the 78 minors to get cited. In short...

I am a total badass.

2009-10-06T19:14:00.002-04:00

So friends, I have a job now. Yes, a real job! In fact, it's what I've always done, but now I'm paid to do it...I work on the stage crew at the IU MAC.

I love it. It's probably to early to say how I feel about it definitively, but...well, I love it right now.

Everyone I work with is helpful, nice, hilarious...we're all theater people, and as anyone who deals with theater people a lot knows, theaters EVERYWHERE attract the same types of people. Opera houses are no different.

I bitch and moan about going to work early in the morning, and giving up weekends, but secretly, there's little else I'd rather do.

If you find yourself in the Bloomington area some weekend soon and feel the need to absorb some high-falutin' culture, this weekend is the Fall Ballet and then two weeks later is Romeo and Juliet.

2009-09-23T22:00:00.002-04:00

Youtube continues to make life worth living.

2009-08-12T01:39:00.002-04:00

So, I watch "Weeds." I really liked it for about three seasons, but, for me, it has jumped the shark. Not in a terribly humiliating way, but enough for me to be disappointed.

Their biggest mistake was in changing the location. Having Nancy in the suburbs was central to the show. It was satire on upper-class, suburban life. It has now turned into a show about putting all the characters through crazy situations to see what they will do next. I'm really unhappy with the character development this season. Nancy has given up almost all pretense of being a concerned mother (she gets upset when the lives of her children are threatened, but that seems to be the extent of her maternal instinct). Shane has turned completely emo - he even tries to make his pain sound poetic. Doug, who was once a lovable screw-up, has turned into an annoying, asshole screw-up. Back when the racial insensitivity, drug-use, and general crassness were occasional, I liked Doug and thought he was funny. Now he's just sad.

I do like the way they've dealt with Silas. In fact, I thought it was kind of cool how they matured him at the same time they made Shane the problem-child. I like that Silas is trying to start his own legal business and that he is becoming the voice of reason. I also still like Andy. Not the whole business of him being in love with Nancy (Sidenote: The writers had to take a beautiful, platonic friendship between a straight man and an unrelated, straight woman and inject some sexual tension into it. That makes me angry; how often do you see friendships like that that work and don't have the sexual tension? I loved that the writers were not taking that very obvious route, but no longer. Just because two straight people of the opposite sex are friends does NOT mean that they want to, or inevitably are going to jump each other!), but I like that they have stayed true to the concept of his character. He's another lovable screw-up, but he always had more substance than Doug. And now he wants to do something with his life. Kudos, Andy!

The thing that bothers me most, though, is the part of the show that is hitting too close to home for me. Nancy has started a relationship with Esteban, a Mexican drug lord/politician. First of all, I don't see why they are in love and it feels like a telling and not showing thing to me, but it really bothers me that Nancy has gone off and remarried. For anyone who doesn't watch the show, Nancy's husband, Judah, died just before the events of the show. He's never mentioned anymore. Andy is his brother, and he doesn't even mention him. It's like he doesn't matter to Nancy, Andy, or the boys at all. And now she has a new husband who she presumably loves; the boys have a step-father and Nancy no longer has any formal relationship with Andy (if brother/sister-in-law is considered formal...) I just don't understand how they can all be so comfortable with ignoring their former lives. I hate Nancy for that more than anything else.

Forget Michael Jackson...

2009-07-20T00:40:00.002-04:00

Two magnificent men of words died this weekend: Walter Cronkite (November 4th, 1916 - July 17th, 2009) and Frank McCourt (August 19th, 1930 - July 19th, 2009).

Okay Rachel, I'll play.

2009-06-16T22:59:00.019-04:00

So, Rachel did her own Hot 50 list and dared her fellow bloggers to do their own. Here's my Foxy 15 list.

Oh, those Tams.

1. Sean Maher

2. Summer Glau

3. Mary Louise Parker

4. Jim Sturgess

5. Anton Yelchin

6. Romany Malco

7. David Tennant

8. John Slattery

9. Marjorie Conrad

10. Richard Hammond

11. Rufus Wainwright

12. Christopher Eccleston

13. Alan Rickman (Just to qualify, he isn't really one of the fifteen foxiest looking people I could think of, but good god, that voice.)

14. Jerry Orbach

15. Sam Waterston

I don't know what it says about me that I have so many significantly older guys on this list.

Least appropriate wedding songs

2009-06-11T19:52:00.001-04:00

Go.

2009-05-25T13:00:00.002-04:00

I think I've realized that I don't really believe in remarriage. This is probably a horrible thing to say, especially since I'm saying it about my widowed father. I just don't understand how he can ever love someone as much as he loved my mom. He was barely 23 when they married and 49 when she died. They went through so much together. I don't think that he would be betraying my mom in any way if he does remarry, I just don't understand how he could possibly want to marry anyone else.

PS. I like my dad's girlfriend. She's really nice.
PPS. Sorry all of my non-frivolous posts have to do with my mom and her deadness.

2009-05-25T01:59:00.002-04:00

Your results:
You are Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)

Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)		80%
Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)		60%
Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)		55%
Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)		50%
River (Stowaway)		50%
Inara Serra (Companion)		45%
Derrial Book (Shepherd)		40%
Wash (Ship Pilot)		35%
Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)		25%
Alliance		25%
A Reaver (Cannibal)		20%

Medicine and physical healing are your game,
but wooing women isn't a strong suit.

Click here to take the Serenity Firefly Personality Test

My roommate and I are in different colleges within our university FINAL DAY

2009-05-07T14:49:00.001-04:00

Last full day with SoI roommate. Have hope that I will make it out alive. Will not let guard down, however.

2009-05-02T10:59:00.001-04:00

Well, it's been a good year. I had fun, I worked hard, and I survived the communal bathroom. All in all, I'd say freshman year was a success.

If Atheists Ruled the World

2009-04-21T20:38:00.001-04:00

Enjoy. I know I did.

EDIT: I do recommend reading fstdt.com, but be careful, don't over-do it, or you may just lose all faith in humanity.

Honestly, reading those quotes almost makes me doubt evolution a little...I would have thought that natural selection would have eliminated such stupid, ignorant people.

2009-03-30T15:12:00.001-04:00

So, friends, I have declared a second major.

I am now in the Psych BA program and the Borns Jewish Studies program here at sunny IU Bloomington. I am also working on minors in history and theater.

I plan to be very busy from now until forever.

2009-03-25T16:23:00.003-04:00

Right now, I'm existing in a constant state of being stressed out, even though I have very little to actually stress about. And I'm tired. All the time.

I think they call it college.

2009-03-24T18:28:00.003-04:00

Polly Walker as Atia of the Julii from HBO's "Rome" is a badass.

Thank you.

PS. I just found out a few posts ago how to upload videos, so I'm just playing with my new toy here.

Prop 8 the musical

2009-02-28T18:57:00.002-05:00

The video doesn't fit onto this page, so I linked to it instead.

I love Neil Patrick Harris.

My roommate and I are in different colleges within our university DAY 8

2009-02-26T22:54:00.003-05:00

Have shared with roommate fascination with lying and deception. Fear that I am becoming the villain of my own life accounts. Roommate expresses interest in acquiring weapons. Perhaps I am not the villainous one.

This week in pictures

2009-02-26T18:47:00.002-05:00

2009-02-25T18:09:00.007-05:00

I love and dread this time of year.

I love it because the weather is getting warmer, the air smells like spring, the sun has reappeared, and there's a general feeling of relief everywhere (at least I think so).

I dread it because I can't concentrate (for instance: I have a midterm paper due tomorrow and another on Friday and I haven't started either of them), and because it makes me think of what I was doing this time two years go. Jesus, it's been two years already and I still want to call her up and tell her about my day. I think, about this time, I was teching Merchant at First Pres., and I must have had a lot of work for school because I remember being really busy. I remember thinking that Monday, March 5th was going to be my "day-off." I get a little moody and sad around this time of year - I watch dumbo a lot and think about her for no reason. Everyday up to the week of her death and funeral was sunny and (weather-wise) pleasant. That week got cloudy and rainy, and I loved it. It would have really pissed me off if the weather was nice that week. Note to self: next time I have to help plan a funeral, make sure to plan for a day when it rains.

I'm doing this thing where I'm trying to forgive my mom for all of the stupid, petty, infuriating things she did. It's hard, because that seems to be all we can talk about at home. Not that I want to dismiss or forget those things, but what we're doing right now is just as inaccurate and unfair as canonizing her memory would be. I guess we always wanted to say those things to her face, but we were too scared, so now we just can't help ourselves. And I want to stop doing that. I don't want to wake up one morning and not remember why I loved my mother. That's why that scene in dumbo makes me cry - it reminds me of everything I loved and miss about her. Maybe we talk about what pissed us off about her because it's easier than having to accept the fact that someone we loved and who loved us is no more. I don't care if it's easier, I don't want to be mad at her anymore.

My roommate and I are in different colleges within our university DAY 2

2009-02-20T11:08:00.002-05:00

Awoke this morning (later than usual) pleased to find that roommate had not killed me in the night. She said that people in the College of Arts and Sciences (hereafter: CoAS) cannot be trusted and made sound effect of dramatic music upon my entrance to the room. Cannot help but think that it is she who cannot be trusted.

My roommate and I are in different colleges within our university DAY 1

2009-02-19T14:45:00.004-05:00

I transferred into the College of Arts and Sciences; she to the School of Informatics. She supposes that we will still be friends - I have my doubts.

2009-02-14T00:14:00.001-05:00

I think this little dude is what is missing from my life. If I could get the animation to come with it, then surely I would want for nothing.

2009-02-04T18:09:00.002-05:00

Mmm, sleep. I love sleep. It makes me very happy. And very grouchy when I don't get enough or when I am woken up unexpectedly. Imagine just how grouchy I was this morning at 3:45 when the fire alarm went off. Everyone in Forest B-Tower had to evacuate the building, into the snow, and stand around in the bitterly cold 11 degree weather. My roommate, my next-door neighbor, and I all made it out in leggings and our coats. Karys had boots; my neighbor and I had rather flimsy slip-ons. Some people had blankets wrapped around themselves, some people were fully dressed, and I swore I saw someone in a bathrobe and no shoes. I have never been so cold in my life. I was so cold that it actually hurt. We stood outside for about half an hour, waiting for the Bloomington fire department to check for any actual fire. Turns out, this wasn't a drill - someone on the eleventh floor smelled smoke. There wasn't really a fire, and we got to go back inside. I curled up under my blankets, and didn't feel warm again for what felt like an hour.

Moral of the story: Worst. Morning. Ever.

2009-01-29T20:08:00.004-05:00

Commenting on flair is just my thing now...since I can't do it on facebook, I have to do it here.

The creator of this flair just didn't get it. It goes, "If you don't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them." It's a play on words and double meanings, commonly called a "pun" or "joke."

2009-01-29T01:09:00.002-05:00

Just to break from the rather gloomy and cynical mood of my blog, I thought I'd share this little revelation I just had.

I have a pretty good life. It's not perfect and I can think of a few big things I'd change, but overall, I'm doing well. I'm in college at a neat place, I have lots of friends, both old and new, and my family pretty much rocks. So, yeah, not perfect, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give myself a 7 right now.

2009-01-20T15:45:00.003-05:00

I posted this on facebook the night after the election...

There are so many people who deserve thanks for pouring their hearts and souls into Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and I hope all of them are having a really good day.

But most of all, thank YOU, American voters, for not fucking this one up.

2009-01-15T10:42:00.005-05:00

Special thanks to CaptainOT at A Christmas Yuleblog...I really liked your comment on my last post, Captain.

This post is kind of depressing and personal, but it's my damn blog

2009-01-13T19:28:00.003-05:00

I was just thinking about this while I was walking back to my dorm after picking up some food from Read...

For almost two years, I've sort of thought that my mom's death hadn't changed me at all. I still felt like I was more or less the same, except for the obvious lack of a mother. And once the initial shock and grief wore off, I thought I was pretty much back to normal. In fact, I still think I'm mostly normal, but I finally realized that I'm not exactly the same as I used to be.

Before she died, I always felt that I could talk to anyone about anything that was bothering me, or was important to me, or whatever. I did, too. Usually, I said just about anything that was on my mind, barring the indecently rude or eccentric thoughts that I like to believe everyone has occasionally. Now, I censor myself almost constantly. Because, as I already said in a previous post, my situation makes other people uncomfortable, and I'm pretty aware of that. But I don't just censor myself about my mother. I don't like to talk much because I assume that other people will think I'm boring, or inconsequential, or whiny, or just plain old stupid. Maybe I always thought like this and since I got to college the problem is more pronounced, so I'm blaming it on my mom. Maybe this does have to do with her death - after all, it's not unheard of for the death of a loved one to have lasting effects on a person. Maybe I'm just a little shy and blowing it out of proportion and I need to stop psychoanalyzing myself. Maybe I was rude and far too forthcoming before all this and I'm now acting normal. Maybe I need to find a new way to start my sentences.

In any case, I only have a few people to whom I can talk freely - mostly my family and a couple of friends. Even the title of this post is defensive because I feel like I need to preface this with some kind of disclaimer that I'm about to say something emotional. And I can't bring myself to delete it because I can't get over the feeling that to not inform who ever reads this of what they're getting into is rude of me.

For everyone I've met in the last two years, I wasn't like this before...at least, not that I can remember.

2009-01-12T00:15:00.006-05:00

Found this and the segment about what people say after a death is so true that I had to post it. I think I had similar thoughts when people said the ever so stupid, "If there's anything I can do..."

I love you, George Carlin.

2008-12-28T13:57:00.002-05:00

I really want to say something about my aunt, but I have no idea where to start. Should I begin with the stories of her cooking-challenged students? Or with the creation of a barnyard mafia from playing dominoes?

She's sort of crazy, and she's one of the funniest people I've ever met. She teaches a cooking class at UNL, and most of her students have never cooked before. Some of the stories she tells makes me wonder how her students have avoided earning Darwin Awards.

There was the boy who tried to bake cookies with the oven door open.

He apparently put over-large dollops of cookie dough on his baking sheet. When my aunt came over and told him that the dough would fall off the edge of the flat sheet, he'd have to scrape the dough off and try it again. He didn't. She said that he'd have to stay after class and clean the oven to her satisfaction. A few moments later, she walked past him sitting in front of the (open) oven door, scooping falling cookie dough back on to the baking sheet.

Baking with the oven door open was unprecedented. Congrats, who ever you are.

There was also the boy who made bread soup.

He didn't read very carefully and thought that this recipe (for a loaf of bread) called for two tablespoons of flour.

2008-12-15T14:07:00.003-05:00

Three words that should make any college student cry:

FINALS

HOMEWORK

HOUSING

In the last week, I've been dealing with all of them at once. This week, they will all finally be resolved. Hurray for winter break, no?

I know, the flair thing is getting old

2008-12-03T10:52:00.007-05:00

Sorry, I was looking at politically charged flair again and came across this one -->

To the maker of this flair: Rape is NOT a choice. Abortion IS a choice. In fact, it's a choice that is very easy to avoid - steer clear of the big, neon, "WE DO ABORTIONS HERE!" signs. So, I'm sorry, but it is only your analogy that is weak and offensive, not the supposed "pro-abortion 'logic'" you seem to be trying to refute.

You know what else is a choice? Keeping the baby. Or putting it up for adoption. That's the whole idea behind being pro-choice. It takes a pretty sick fuck to say that they are pro-abortion. Being pro-choice, on the other hand, implies that you understand that the needs, abilities, and resources of others are not necessarily in agreement with your needs, abilities and resources.

Speaking of resources, the best way to combat abortion is not with pictures of dead babies and threats of violence against doctors or patients, it's by improving sex ed, including adding in the bits about contraception, and increasing effective welfare programs. Either way, it means higher taxes, and we all know how much republicans loooove that idea.

I'm a pro-choicer. And I would never personally choose abortion. And I'd still like the right to make that decision for myself, thank you very much.

EDIT: Okay, it's a little later in the day and I'm not quite as upset about this flair as I was earlier.

I think I should explain something: I don't think life begins at conception. I know that, technically, the fertilized egg is alive. It's alive the way a bacterium is alive. But life is much more than a biological fact. I don't believe that a fertilized egg has emotions, has cognition, or can feel pain...mostly because ALL of those aspects of life are acquired later (it's been proven). Those are much closer to life than rapid cell division.

I should also point out that I don't agree with late term abortions. I know some people would call it splitting hairs, and maybe it is, but to me, they are not the same thing. The morning-after pill (RU-486, mifepristone, whatever you want to call it) is a good idea.

To anyone who thinks that consenting to sex means consenting to having a baby (regardless of whatever contraceptive measures you take), think about this: do you consent to die every time you get in a car? 'Cause even if you fasten your seat belt, drive the speed limit, and always signal, there's still a reasonable chance that you could die in an auto accident if some other driver makes a mistake. There is still a chance that a woman could get pregnant, regardless of however many ways she tells the fates, "I don't want a baby right now!"

I also think that, for a woman who cannot take care of a baby, whether for monetary or emotional reasons, nine months of pregnancy and however many hours of labor is a punishment. A baby should never be a punishment.

2008-12-02T21:09:00.006-05:00

So, I'm in college now. I'm meeting all kinds of new people who I have never met before. It's fun. Until we start talking about families...specifically parents. As I'm very certain that the only people reading this are people who know me personally, I'm sure I don't have to explain why that might get a little awkward for me.

I figure that telling someone your mom died is a bit like ripping off a band-aid. You do it really quick, pretend it doesn't hurt anymore, and get on with whatever you were doing.

To be perfectly honest, it doesn't hurt to talk about anymore. It's just really uncomfortable for whomever I tell. Unless they've been through the same thing, they don't know what to say. Which works out perfectly, as I have nothing I especially want to hear on that subject. I really wish that once, I would mention this fact, and the other person would say, "Oh, sorry. Anyway, about exploding monkeys..."

NOTE: There would be no uncomfortable pause between sentences.

I also wish that I wouldn't get a similar reaction when I bring up my mother in front of people who already know what happened. She existed, and had a large impact on my life, and her stuff is still floating around my house, so mentioning her in passing shouldn't be taken as a sign that I'm soon going to burst into tears or share inner feelings of unresolved anger and sorrow. I know better than to do that in nearly all situations. I need to be having a decently serious conversation for at least a couple of hours before I feel comfortable enough to go more in depth than, "...my mom's old #5 DPNs..." (If you know what #5 DPNs are, I applaud you.)

Anyway, that's probably never going to happen. Hell, I even get a mite uncomfortable when I meet people my age who've been through the same thing.

It used to be a sad situation. Now it's just awkward.

Sorry, I was looking at flair again

2008-11-24T11:34:00.003-05:00

I found this on one of the "recently popular" flair pages.

I mean...really? Really?

2008-11-22T01:34:00.003-05:00

Love it.

2008-11-13T23:47:00.000-05:00

I was just reminded of this by Rachel's post...

Proposition 8 was passed in the same week that America elected its first non-white president. I gotta say, as a die-hard liberal, I have mixed feelings. Apparently, freedom is more selective than we've been led to believe.

I've noticed a few holes in the anti-gay marriage argument that I just wanted to share.

1. I'm pretty sure that making divorce illegal would do more to "protect" marriage than prohibiting committed couples from taking part in the whole institution. After all, it's DIVORCE that breaks up marriages.

2. Just what is the government doing in the sanctity business? I was under the impression that the government didn't deal with that at all, or is "separation of church and state" just a catchy phrase that doesn't mean anything? In fact, didn't Jesus say something rather similar? Something along the lines of, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21)? Oh, look at that. He did.

Mostly pointless, but I just had to say...

2008-09-28T17:43:00.000-04:00

...that some of the items on facebook's Flair application piss me off. The one that inspired me to bitch a bit here is the one that takes the famous Abbie Hoffman quote, "Avoid all needle drugs. The only dope worth shooting is Richard Nixon," and replaces Richard Nixon with Barack Obama. (Yeah, it's the one on the right.)

For fuck's sake. Let's think about that for a bit...

Someone obviously thought that it would be clever to take that quote and make it an anti-Obama slogan. But, no, it was not clever. It's dumb-fucked. And here's why.

Abbie Hoffman was the founder of the Youth International Party, better known as the Yippies. The Yippies were a leftist radical political party born out of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 60's. Hoffman himself was an anti-establishment activist for his entire adult life. He was arrested and tried for conspiracy to incite a riot with seven others during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. They were collectively known as the Chicago Eight, but when one of them was tried separately, they were known as the Chicago Seven. Google it.

While hiding from the authorities, Hoffman wrote "Steal this Book," which advocates rebelling against all forms of authority. It also coins the phrase "Pig Nation" to refer to the "American Empire."
"Steal this Book" also contains super-useful information including, but not limited to:
-How to grow your own weed
-Shoplifting tips
-Getting the US Dept. of the Interior to give you a free buffalo
-Preparing your own legal defense
-lists of affordable weaponry and armor (for when the Fuzz come to getcha).
"Steal this Book" has a lot in common with "The Anarchist Cookbook." Just to give you an idea.

But don't think that all of Abbie's wackiness ended in the 60's and 70's! He was arrested again in 1986 for trespassing on the University of Mass. campus. He disagreed with the CIA recruiting on campus, saying that they were engaging in unlawful activities, and thereby breaking university policy. Hoffman died three years later from an overdose of Phenobarbital.

So, to the maker of this flair, respect the dead. Abbie Hoffman would have nothing but terrible things to say about John McCain. I mean, McCain volunteered to go to Vietnam and doesn't seem to have a problem prolonging the war in Iraq. Definitely no Yippie. So don't use Hoffman's words. Find some demeaning quote from someone who might have actually agreed with your anti-Obama sentiment.

Am I saying that Barack Obama is an anarchist? Well, running for president would be a pretty fucking dumb thing for an anarchist to do, so no. I am saying know your shit before you try to be clever.

EDIT: As my roommate has pointed out, none of this is really a big deal at all, but I did mention that this was pointless in the title, so if you feel as though this was a waste of your time, I did warn you.

So...blog...

2008-05-13T21:23:00.000-04:00

Not sure what to do with this...but I'll find out.