With and without

I’ve got a test for you.

Look at the two pictures of my poorly drawn landscapes:

What is the difference between the two?

Now look at these three pictures:

What is different between these three pictures?

Look at these three pictures:

Again, what is different between these three pictures?

Finally, look at these two pictures:

What is the difference between the two?

How did you answer? Did you answer like this?

1)      The one on the left has a tree, the other doesn’t

2)      Two have a tree, the other dosen't

3)      One has a tree, the others don’t

4)      One has a tree, the other has mountains

(If you didn’t answer this way, I hate you and you missed the point I am trying to make!)

The point I am trying to make is that we notice clearly visible differences. In the first three, the tree sticks out, right?

A few years ago in college, a woman ( I can’t remember her name) came to speak. Instead of having sociology class, we had to go to her talk. She was born a man but had a sex transplant and is now a woman. I can’t remember if she is a lesbian, but if she was, she would be like Mr./Mrs. Garrison from South Park.

She was talking about gender issues. She mentioned how doctors, when describing newborn infants, would define a male as “one with a penis” and a female as “one without a penis”. Nearly everyone in the AER (Art Exhibit Room) gasped in horror. I did not. What was the problem?

Have you seen a newborn infant? You cannot tell what gender it is by looking at the face. When they are naked, you can tell. A penis sticks out like a sore thumb (pun?). You will notice it. Anything without one will look like they are without one.

That was the point of my tree experiment. Did you notice how the tree sticks out? Whatshername mentioned that you can describe a newborn girl by many things she has, all of which are inside her and not clearly visible. Do you look at a two very different looking men and say “One has an appendix, the other doesn't!” How would you know that? We as humans notice the visible differences. Penis, no Penis. It’s not sexism. The fourth question represents two grown and mature humans. One has a tree, one has mountains. You can figure out what they mean.

When a doctor describes a newborn male and a female as "with and without a penis" respectively, this is not a way to keep women down and describe them as inferior. It is simple human observation. Women around the world have had acid thrown in their faces because they have stood up to abusive husbands and taken charge of their own lives. Women around the world are being forced into sex slavery. Please, let us focus on the real issues facing women today, not imagined overreactions.

Sanity tested

That was one hell of a day. I slept like a baby last night.

I and my father went to the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” yesterday. It was an experience to say the least.

We woke at 7:30 and went to breakfast at McDonalds at about 8:30. We left for the “Dunn-Loring – Merrifield” Metro station (Metro is the DC area subway system) at about 9:00 and got there at about quarter to 10:00.

It was packed.

We got in line to buy a ticket and didn’t get one until 11:15. Getting on the subway was a whole other problem. The station we were at was only the second one on the Orange Line, but the trains coming from the first were packed. The only way to get on was to take the train in the opposite direction to the last station and have the train turn around. At one point an empty train came to the station. Everyone cheered.

The train did not stop. Everyone booed.

We finally got on a train at about 12:15, 15 minutes into the start of the rally. People were still standing in long lines at every station to buy a ticket. An off ramp to a Metro parking lot was backed up. There was no room left on the train to hold any more people and stop after stop left more and more people upset.

We got there at 1:00, an hour into it. We slowly made our way to as close as we could get. I can tell they did not plan on having this many people. Most of the fields on the Mall were closed for restoration. But that didn’t stop anybody! Also, the sound system was bad; part technical and part not having any speakers for the people in the back. (People stretched as far back as the Washington Monument. They had screens and speakers less than half way to the monument) Most of the applause from our section came from people complaining about the sound and a guy trying to climb a tree.

What I did hear and see was awesome and funny. It was a good mixture of comedy and message. The message was the best (paraphrased):

“We may be different but we all love this nation. We need to ignore our differences to work together to make it great. We shouldn’t look at each other as Democrats or Republicans, Liberals or Conservatives. Stop accusing everyone of being racists or homophobes (because it is offensive to those who really work hard to hate!). The “country's 24-hour politico pundit perpetual panic conflictinator” only serves to prevent us from working together. “If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.”

For a rally to “Restore Sanity”, there sure were a lot of crazies there…

 (Not pictured: A group of Nixon's)

Also, some people were actually there to support a cause; some there for the rally (Prop 19 supporters), some there every weekend (I didn’t even know that the Japanese were kidnapping children!) I was also reminded of what a college student (80% of the ‘Daily Show/Colbert viewers) was like; horney, immature (yes, the station is called Ballston, ha ha ha...), self-righteous jerks (like certain people from certain classes I had that shall remain nameless, because I can’t remember their name). I was surprised by the age diversity of the rally goers. Even if 80% are college students the rest were 30 to 60 year olds.

After the rally we decided to walk around, because the Metro would be a madhouse. We walked to the Lincoln Memorial. After two hours of walking around, the subways were still full, but not as bad as coming in. The train was held up briefly for a “sick” person on a previous train. We got back at about 6:00 or 6:30.

What a day.

Operation: Fishslap

Ladies and Gentlemen; We got him.

On Saturday Afternoon, Special Forces operating in the backwoods of Central New York, to the south of Moravia, and West of Cortland have located the Birthplace of Millard Fillmore.

After a failed attempt in the Spring of 2006 to locate the site, the second attempt made on October 23, 2010 was successful.

Reports indicated that the first mission failed due to a lack of proper directions and misleading signs. The first mission was off by less than a mile in locating the Millard Fillmore Birthplace due to a left turn on Millard Fillmore Road. A right turn was found, by the study, to have been the correct one.

I would like to congratulate the team, especially the navigator of the operation and the navigator of the previous operation.

Mission Accomplished!

We Shall Overcome!

My Fellow Americans, prejudice is alive and well. Although we as a society have tried to move past prejudice, there is one group of people the liberal media loves to attack: Rain-Lovers.

Every day, Rain-Lovers like me must face ridicule in the media almost daily. That might sound redundant, but you don’t understand the pain. Days are judged to be bad simply on the presence of rain. Sunny days are deemed far superior to the “filthy rainy days”.

Does Rain make a weekend bad?

Does Sun necessarily make a day any better?

The pure hatred visible on the faces of the news anchors and the anti-rainistic laden statements spewing from their mouths is too much for me to bear. How can this be allowed in America?

Anti-Rainism must be stopped. My spell check doesn’t even recognize the word ‘Anti-Rainism’. We need to stop this open prejudice and welcome open discussions on the usefulness of rain.

We need rain. Rain causes food to grow. The hypocrisy of complaining about droughts and then cursing the rain when it comes shows us just how far we need to advance as a society.

Please, keep an open mind. When you see a “weatherman” start to spew his Neo-Sun agenda, please complain to the news station to have this hate-filled person removed. We do not need people like this indoctrinating our children.

Thank You

Speech Vs. Speech

The Westborough Baptist Church

… Ugh…

You probably know this group already. This inbred group of Christian nut jobs hates gays and anything relating to them, including the US military. Because the military defends the US and the US defends gays, God kills soldiers who fight for gays as a form of divine punishment. These people have never attended a logic class. They (and according to them, God) also hate Canada and Sweden. Sweden? What the hell did they do? And Canada for that matter?

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments about whether or not the infamous WBC has a right to shout hate filled comments at military funerals.

I think they do not have that right.

“But Josh, how can you say that they don’t have a right to be disrespectful but the mosque in NY is allowed?! They are both disrespectful!!!”

Let me explain. Islam shouldn’t be considered offensive. It is a peaceful religion manipulated by extremists. Just as much as a church shouldn’t be offensive because a few bad apples bomb abortion clinics for Jesus. (Just a side note, the official Baptist Church organization does not recognize this church as having anything to do with their religion/beliefs)

The WBC is harassing mourners at a funeral. Harassment is illegal in the US. Can I interrupt a wedding to throw venom filled insults at the priest? No. Can I call up a person I slightly dislike every day and spew mean and nasty hate-filled things to him? No. Mourners have a right to mourn in peace.

So that’s how I can reconcile two stances that appear to contradict.

I hope the Court strikes down these idiots, but I do wonder though. How can the Court define when speech is offensive and inappropriate? People will always find something to be offended about. People could be offended by the statement “I love Seinfeld”. My fear is that this decision will be interpreted to limit most forms of speech, like rational protests. Couldn’t protesting a war be offensive to the veterans serving and dying in it? Couldn’t staging a rally to support women in abusive relationships be offensive to the millions of men who suffer in an abusive relationship and are often ignored? I’m just suggesting hypothetical’s here. Don’t jump on me!

Maybe this case will end like the case on defining pornography, “I can’t define it, but I’ll know it when I see it”.

"A building by any other name..."

I know this issue has died down since September 11^th, but I want to get my thoughts out.

“The Ground Zero Mosque”, or more accurately, the “Community center built by Muslims with a Mosque inside, two blocks from Ground Zero and out of sight from the site of the terrorist attacks”. It doesn’t have the same rig to it as “Ground Zero Mosque”, but it’s more accurate.

The issue to come up again on The View when Bill O’Reilly blurted out his opinion (why the hell would he go on this show???) and started a heated debate. Dumbass Elizabeth Hasselbeck, after things calmed down, blamed Obama for not allowing us to use the term ‘Terrorist’. What the hell does that have to do with anything?

(On a side note, thank you media for turning this into a big deal. It was a small story that almost fell through the cracks until you brought it out into the light. An issue that was “Only New York City’s problem” according to many people was now tearing the nation apart.)

Anyway, what is the big deal with this “Mosque”? Here are some of my points on why this is stupid.

It’s not at Ground Zero. As mentioned above, it is two blocks away from the location and it is out of sight from the former World Trade Center Grounds.

Islam shouldn’t be considered anti-American or offensive. RADICALS from the religion hijacked their beliefs to commit these terrible actions. Islam and 90% of Muslims support peace and non-violence. Newt Gingrich wanting attention again said Muslims can’t be loyal Americans because of their obligation to the Koran and its subversive nature. Hey Newt, you divorce-your-cancer-dying-wife-to-marry-a-floozy-of-a-woman man? The religion you converted to, Roman Catholicism, was criticized for the same damn thing! People though Al Smith and John F Kennedy couldn’t be a good president because they were Catholics and would have to be loyal to the Pope! Muslims were killed in the attacks (I am NOT counting the terrorists btw). Muslim-Americans…no, Americans who were Muslim, were killed that day. Firefighters responding to the attacks were Muslim. Anybody can be a good American, no matter your race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.

We have freedom of Religion. Again, Newt Gingrich said another stupid thing (causing me to exclaim that his non-sequitur gave me cancer!) “Why should we have a mosque when Saudi Arabia doesn’t have a church or synagogue?” (PS they are about to build a church) First, since when is Saudi Arabia the only Muslim country? Other Muslim countries like Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population, have churches. Not a lot, but they do. Second, what does that have to do with anything? We are a free country that allows people to worship or not worship as we please. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy with strict Islamic law. Shouldn’t we strive to be better than that, Newt? Or do you want us to be a theocracy like them? Freedom of religion means freedom for all, not just for the Christians. Do we really want to be like Salem, MA?

Finally, this is about a much bigger picture. Planned mosques all over the country, thousands of miles away from Ground Zero, are facing protest, harassment, and defacement. Do you really think that the people holding up signs that say “This is Not Your Country”, “Islam builds Mosques at the sites of their Victories and Conquests”, “Building a mosque is like building a memorial to Hitler at Auschwitz” and countless other insensitive and ignorant statements care about sensitivity? No they don’t. They are ignorant people who take every forwarded email seriously.

On a side note, do you protestors realize how stupid and ignorant you look when you play “Born in the USA” to oppose the Mosque? The song, written by life-long Democrat Bruce Springsteen, is about criticizing the nation’s treatment of its Vietnam veterans, the conduct of the war, and the loss of the common man’s input in government. IT IS NOT A PATRIOTIC SONG!

I just love what the middle ground approach has been: “They have the right, but they really shouldn’t”. It’s like a Klansman telling a black person “You have the right to vote, but you really shouldn’t” as he holds a club. This would mean that freedom of religion is a privilege, not a right. Passed out to a select group and withheld from others determined by popular will. (You know, popular will also wants no taxes and free money. Will that happen? Does it make it right?)

America has a deep seated fear of what we don’t know. We hate communism and socialism even when we can’t define it and even support parts of it while decrying all of it (Social Security). We don’t understand Islam. Older Americans (40+) didn’t need to learn about Islam when they were in school and most of their knowledge comes from those damn emails that are forwarded to them from their reactionary uncle, cousin, or friend of a friend. Those of us that are younger are able to be properly informed on the subject thanks to high school and college classes. While some are still trapped in ignorance from their parents, most of us will be given the truth. Hopefully, most of my generation will be educated enough to override the ignorant in a few decades and Islam will be accepted by mainstream culture. In 50 years, I hope this whole Mosque issue will be seen as another silly panic, like organ transplants, Catholicism, and masturbation…

PS. My only criticism of the “Community center built by Muslims with a Mosque inside, two blocks from Ground Zero and out of sight from the site of the terrorist attacks” is the design. I think they are trying to make a reference to classic Islamic geometric designs:
http://inhabitat.com/2010/10/01/renderings-released-for-park51-mosque-and-community-center/
But, I hate it. It's too modern and weird for my tastes. For trying to keep a low profile, they sure did fail!
 

Colbert's take on the design: 

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/361889/october-12-2010/tip-wag---peabody-public-schools--andy-rooney---ground-zero-mosque-design