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May 26th, 2009
10:04 am - Projects, and a small haircut. A trim, really.
Wellspring [review] has me back in the swing of spirituality, I think. I've got two study programs to finish my own work on (there's an odd, sudden urgency to finishing Trance 2. . . I wonder why?), as well as numerous projects that are in a stage of complete-or-almost-complete that just need that last little bit of work to create the report. Putting the Clergy Training Program to bed is liberating, but it also brings me back around to the next project, which is the completion of the Liturgist Guild Study Program, which needs to be written.
Oh, and as some have noticed, my hair is now cut a tad shorter.
( Donation Photos )
I've sent my hair off to Wisconsin for redistribution into a wig. It's a bit odd, sending hair off like that (the magician in me cringes at the thought), but it's good hair: thick, long, and never, ever treated with any sort of chemical or dye. I picked Pantene mostly due to the fact that they accept hair as short as 8 inches, which meant that more of my hair was likely to be used. They give hair specifically to women who have cancer, though that didn't factor much into my decision: I don't really care if it's a woman or a child, or if they have cancer or have just gone bald.
I just hope that someone enjoys the hair, and that it helps get them through what they're facing in life.
And for the record, no, I do not miss long hair (I actually hated it with a pretty intense passion), nor will I be doing this again in the foreseeable future. I loved doing it once, but I don't know if I'll ever be up for another round.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "God's Own Drunk", -JB
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April 3rd, 2009
10:56 am - Same-sex marriage in the Midwest? Yep.
It is astounding how happy an Iowa court case can make me.
"The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution." And, "All justices concur."
The best part of the Iowa Supreme Court ruling? They don't amend their constitution via majority rule at the polls. It would also need to pass the Iowa House and Senate twice before going to voters. "Such an amendment requires the votes of a simple majority in both the Iowa House and Iowa Senate in two consecutive sessions, followed by a passing vote of the people of Iowa."
2012 is the earliest this decision could be overturned, and that's only if this current session were to vote on an amendment and pass it.
Holy crap.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) ecstatic
Current Music: "I Love the Now", -JB
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December 1st, 2008
04:15 pm - World AIDS Day and Seeking Change
Some rituals are harder than others to write for me. This year, the Grove is doing an AIDS Remembrance Dinner in response to World AIDS Day (today, Dec. 1, 2008). I spent a lot of time working it out in my head, writing prayers and intent statements, and reading through the work others have done.
Part of what makes this so hard is . . . well, there are a lot of parts to it. Part of it is a feeling of helplessness in the face of something as overwhelming as HIV/AIDS. Another part of it is the fact that I've not been touched as personally as many others who have written services and prayers before me. Another part is my normal stage-fright: the fear that nothing I say is going to come out right, or that it'll sound like a bunch of bull coming from me.
Only in a very minor way are things like the last-minute nature of this service and the incorporation of a meal into the middle of it parts of the difficulty.
There are causes I want to be part of: AIDS, Pride, and the Prop 8 protests are some examples of what I have been getting myself involved in over the past year as clergy. I've become somewhat involved where I could, but I'm seriously dissatisfied with the attention that I pay to these things which are so vital to me.
I remember when I realized that to get things done in ADF, I was going to have to do a good chunk of them. When we want to see change, we can't let others make change for us. We have to go out and secure it on our own.
I want to spend more time this next year on these projects and develop them in a deeper way. I just have to prioritize the time. And make the effort.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "Fins", -JB
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November 10th, 2008
10:20 am - Prop 8?
Gov. Schwarzenegger indicates "We will maybe undo" Prop. 8.
I've been thinking about this Prop, and what it meant, really. And what it has meant to me has really been, "Okay, I've clearly been talking too much and doing too little about this obvious breech of human rights." I've watched things pass for far too long.
I've been looking for ways to get involved locally (though it appears that local options are mostly out: four years of Ohio having discrimination enshrined in our constitution has reduced the options for that, clearly and expectedly). Nationally, I'm not sure *how* to get involved.
So I open it up to the folk on my friends list: Any ideas who I should contact, what groups are available, and what is needed? Where does one start?
I'm tired of being angry about this and not finding any way to do something about it.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: determined
Current Music: "Lawyers, Guns, and Money", -JB
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November 4th, 2008
12:34 pm - "I Voted" stickers = Sexy!
Many of you know, it is my opinion that the sexiest accessory that anyone might wear is an "I Voted" sticker. I have mine on today, and I hope that you have yours.
This election cycle has had a pleasant build-up, as sexy stickers go: no fault absentee voting (a.k.a. "early voting") has shown a pleasant lead-in to today's frenzy of stickers.
Get a picture of yourself with your sticker today. . . Maybe tomorrow we'll have a post for sexy "I Voted" stickers (and yes, your sticker counts, even if it says something other than "I Voted," so long as it's what you wear to show you voted)?
This morning, I braved the lines as I have in the past. I arrived at my polling place at 6:15 AM, and was greeted with a line longer than the one I encountered in 2004. Settling in for a long wait, I had my brand new copy of the Rgveda (Griffith's complete translation, finally!) with me, and as I watched dawn prepare to break over the gymnasium I was to vote in, I read two hymns: RV IV.51 and RV IV.52, both about Usas, the dawn. I wasn't really planning to read them (they're hymns I have not often read), but they were wonderfully appropriate for this election and this time of year, and my book sort of fell open to these two hymns this morning.
The first hymn states that "the far-refulgent Mornings, Daughters of Heaven, bring welfare to the people."
And the second, "thou layest bare the gloom with light."
No matter who is elected, change will come. I'm positive of that. I'm not so sure whether the change will be good or bad, or even if I can be certain that one candidate will manage better than the other, should he be elected. Today is the first blush of that changing dawn, though, and I felt blessed to be part of it.
I waited in line for an hour and a half total. As there was four years ago, there was confusion about which school to vote in. This year, they started telling people about the other polling place at 6:30 AM, however, instead of waiting until 8 AM.
The key difference between this year and 2004, however, was that in 2004 there were four voting machines, and in 2008 there were ten. Franklin County has nearly doubled the number of voting machines this year, which is what we ought to have done in 2004, when voter turnout was projected by the then-Secretary of State at 73% (instead, he moved machines from Democratic areas to Republican areas with a net increase of 13 machines). In addition, paper ballots were also offered to anyone wishing to use those instead, which decreased wait time.
While there was some normal confusion at the polls (no matter what, things can't go smoothly), the lines moved reasonably fast and I didn't notice any of those dreaded "irregularities" that I noted last time. The law against campaigning at the polls was enforced somewhat erratically, but probably most appropriately: even sample ballots from political parties were banned from being shown in the voting area, but we were informed we could take them out once we were in the booth. Perhaps the most annoying part of the whole thing was the fact that they weren't registering people fast enough (they had little old ladies at the registration desk, squinting at the small-print books), and so there were times when voting booths were actually vacant for a short time while the line was still about an hour long.
People came out in droves, though, and most people were good-humoured about it. A number even brought their kids to participate.
Today, I'm rather proud of our system. I'm happy with the turnout. While the time it took to cast my ballot was not much improved (I actually waited longer than my 1 hour 20 minute wait from 2004), I feel far more confident in this election that my voice will be heard than I was in the last election. I've been singing the Jimmy Buffett song in my "current music" field all morning. Here's hoping that tomorrow's song isn't "Send Lawyers, Guns and Money."
It was a beautiful morning to watch the refulgent dawn and know that tomorrow will be the first of many brighter dawns to come.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: "Good Guys Win", -JB
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October 19th, 2008
10:34 am - The world has changed. . . And we are forced to change with it.
Most people who know me well know my own political leanings. I'm one of those idealistic Republicans of the old guard: less spending, laissez-faire attitudes toward business, strong military, and government that stays as far away from my personal life as possible.
I know I'm not the only one who can't seem to find a Grand Old Party to carry my standard.
The Chicago Trib's endorsement explains my own excitement for Obama rather well, I noticed today:
Chicago Tribune endorses their first Democrat ever.
The old GOP just isn't very grand anymore, is it? It's less that Obama is great, and more that he's an animal that some of us who have a fond remembrance of loyalty to the Republican machine can understand.
The government in recent years has started to strip my civil rights away from me, allowing more invasive searches, wire-tapping, and even torture. After inheriting a huge government surplus, the Republicans, of all people, were the ones who squandered it.
When the government entered my bedroom (despite the fact that I wasn't doing anything they found . . . untoward. . .), that was the last straw. By entering my bedroom, they entered my religion: any attempt to legally define a religious institution is strictly prohibited by the constitution.
How can we understand any of that? I'm not sure. But at least I understand a big-spendin' liberal. And, to be honest, I don't really care if his optimistic talk of change is empty or full. . . In the end, it is change. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) myrch made the point this morning that the GOP has become two parties, and he's right: they have.
I simply no longer identify with what the Grand Ol' Party has become, and there's no way I can continue to support what it is now.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) lonely
Current Music: "The Captain and the Kid", -JB
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July 9th, 2008
02:13 pm - "Lambeth" has always sounded like a tasty dish to me
The Church of England has voted to consecrate women as Bishops.
The Vatican responded pretty darn quick:"We have regretfully learned of the Church of England vote to pave the way for the introduction of legislation which will lead to the ordaining of women to the Episcopacy.
The Catholic position on the issue was clearly expressed by Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Such a decision signifies a breaking away from the apostolic tradition maintained by all of the Churches since the first millennium, and therefore is a further obstacle for the reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England.
This decision will have consequences on the future of dialogue, which had up until now born fruit, as Cardinal Kasper had clearly explained when he spoke on June 5 2006 to all of the bishops of the Church of England at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Cardinal has been invited once again to express the Catholic position at the next Lambeth Conference at the end of July." To which I say:
We can dress like women because we ordain them. What's your excuse?
(Yeah, that's totally one of my favourite bumper stickers. It pokes good fun at all of us with vestments. . .)
I know that the CoE and the Vatican have been trying for reconciliation for the better part of five hundred years, but really? Do you really think that wagging your finger at them from Rome is going to help?
I think that the thing that particularly interests me is that in affirming that women can become bishops, they also affirmed that some people "as a matter of theological conviction will not be able to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests," indicating that they're going to make "special arrangements" for people in that position. This interests me most because it shows a deep theological (okay, theologically sexist, but we're being polite, I think) split in the CoE.
Watching the drama from such a distance (I have little or no vested interest in CoE proceedings and the hypocrisy of their dress patterns and ordination standards, admittedly), I often wonder how we in ADF might handle such a deep divide. We always have the "We don't actually care what you believe, just what you do" argument going for us, I suppose (orthopraxy vs. orthodoxy), but it's not a perfect argument.
Of course, if someone feels that women (or LGBT persons, or black people, or veterans, or whomever) cannot be priests or Archdruid or Preceptor of the Fluffy Bunny SIG or whatever, I don't think I want them sacrificing at the same fire as myself anyway. In many ways, I hope that we would not compromise in the way the CoE has.
I have a feeling that a number of the people being threatened with schism in the CoE feel the same way. . .
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "Viva Las Vegas", -JB
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May 29th, 2008
08:51 am - Colour the Grey, baby
I belong to a group of magicians called (variously) "N14" and "ColourTheGrey". The goals of the group are many (primarily having to do with magically advancing human rights and new hope without the fear of nuclear war, imminent environmental destruction and the false promise of wealth-in-the-future-brings-happiness), and there are still about 84 members of the email list (which saw several hundred messages per month during the WTO protests of a few years ago).
Today, the ADF Office received this little gem of spam:
Tired? The world is grey? Can't see sunshine?
Take this <spam link removed>
(Girlfriends not attached!)
I've always found spam interesting, really. Here, we have something that promises to open your eyes to colour and sunlight, to enliven you. But, in the end, it's up to you to go out and do something with it (otherwise the girlfriends, I suppose, *would* be attached).
It's the Chaote's truest dream, right there in a little spammy pill offering.
The dreams of N14 are good ones, beautiful things full of colour and life. I know that most people look at Chaos Magic as if it's all just gloom and tentacles, child-like chest-pounding and bird-flipping stick-it's. N14 is what I grew up on as a Chaote, though: it was my deepest magical experience.
Perhaps it's time I write of it more fully, rather than selfishly remembering the glow.
The world needs more Chaotes willing to go the extra mile.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "The Hangout Gang", -JB
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June 7th, 2007
09:45 am - A letter to my local TV station
After reading the story "Bears Make Themselves at Home", I wonder why NBC4 has chosen to run what amounts to an ad for someone seeking to put out a hit on a black bear. The last two paragraphs in particular are just what this article is:
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While she can't shoot the bear legally, Wilkins said she wouldn't be opposed to someone else taking care of the situation.
"I would not shoot it because I don't want to go to jail," she said. "But if someone else wants to shoot it, I would not care."
===
From http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2007-06-07-0003.html
According to the Division of Wildlife, there are between 50 and 100 bears in Ohio year round. They are listed as an endangered species in this state, and your willingness to run the above statements indicates that your organization is perfectly at peace with the idea of advertising that there is a bear who is "fair game" to be shot.
Ms. Wilkins' ignorance and disrespect for nature is only surpassed by your willingness to advertise such a reprehensible act for her. I'm honestly shocked that any news organization would run a story like that. Integrity isn't just about reporting what goes on, what people say, and what events occur; there is a strong aspect of social integrity that this particular article shows is lacking in your organization.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/angry.gif) angry
Current Music: "Carnival World", -JB
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December 12th, 2006
11:38 am - Baking brownies and seeking the vegan cookie
 Last night, I went out shopping for groceries. I just needed a couple of things: milk, canola oil, and other odds and ends.
As I passed the bakery aisle, though, I thought about the craving Tina had been expressing for weeks: vegan cookies.
For those currently unaware of my living arrangement, I live with my vegan ex-girlfriend. It works out remarkably well, actually, despite the number of people who keep telling both of us that we're dooming ourselves to this or that terrible fate. We broke up almost two years ago at this point, and so far so good.
Living with a vegan roommate has had an effect on how and what I eat. I probably eat healthier by proximity, since I haven't cooked anything with egg in it for about three years, and I don't cook meat in the house (my initial reasoning was because I didn't want to use her dishes to cook meat, but it turned out that I really just like the fact that it's cleaner to never cook meat: no grease stains on the cabinets, no salmonella to worry about, etc.).
This also means that I have a really sharp eye for ingredients lists on food. Because Tina and I still occasionally share food and often make meals together, I tend to buy things that are vegan already. If I want to throw in something to make them healthy, like bacon, I can do that on my own (I do have pre-cooked meats in the house).
But in passing the baking aisle, I realized that I could slip down there and find some cookie mix that might just be vegan. I didn't have high hopes, but I knew that something might just be available.
So down the aisle I went, seeking out the cookie mixes.
Some cookies are automatically off-limits: most anything from Nestle, Hershey's, or other name-brand manufacturers. I give them a quick once-over and am happy to see the wonderful allergen lists that they now have, that include big bold statements of "contains milk" or "contains egg". I imagine that being vegan is much easier now that those quick-references are available.
I went digging instead through the cast-offs of the cookie world: the Kroger-brand mixes, the nameless ones that people avoid because they're "substandard."
There, I came across a lone package of "double fudge brownie" mix. Lo and behold, the mix was vegan! Sure, it required an egg, but that's easily replaced with a small thing of applesauce. They weren't cookies, but I didn't think Tina would complain.
I kept digging through the packages, looking for some cookies that would be vegan. No such luck, I was finding. I grabbed a bag of chocolate chip cookie mix, though, and found that, while the mix as a whole was not vegan, it was the chips that made it non-vegan. I suddenly realized that I had a mix that I could turn into a bunch of vegan chocolate chip cookies if I replaced the chocolate in the mix with chocolate that didn't involve milk. So I sought some (again, off-brand) chocolate chunks that didn't have milk in them out and figured I could trade out the chips.
Now despite the fact that this chocolate probably came from slavery in Africa (like most chocolate does), no animals were harmed in the making of the chocolate, just people (and who knows: maybe it's actually slave-free anyway), so I figure it's acceptable as "vegan".
When I got home last night, I told Tina that desert was on me, and went to work cooking my dinner and making the brownies.
I'll be making the cookies sometime soon, put I need to get a stick or two of margarine first. Then I need to separate out the offending chips and replace them with the non-offending chunks and I can bake up some warm cookies for Tina.
After I put the brownies in the oven, I said to Tina, "You know, I'm the best ex-boyfriend you'll ever have."
She smiled and said, "Well, you're the best one yet, but I'll let you know if you can't keep that title in the future."
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Music: "There's Something So Feminine About a Mandolin", -JB
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December 1st, 2006
02:01 pm - It's a tad blustery, but that's not really important. . .
 So today it's kinda blustery outside. People keep talking about it (one gent demonstrated the force of the wind to his friends by stumbling about in the lobby of my building when I got back from lunch), but it's really not that impressive to me. Sure, the wind is blowing, but then, it kinda always does. You know, it's wind. And wind, as they say, blows.
I would point out, though, that 'tis an ill wind that blows no minds.
Personally, I'm more concerned about the state of disaster I heard Kansas was in this morning, given that I have family there whose livelihood can be destroyed by a very bad ice storm, like the one that has recently passed over there.
The weather here, honestly, is annoying but not bad or extraordinary to me.
I've been following the conversations on ADF-Liturgists, but avoiding posting recently. A number of conversations have come up here on LJ, and they've been rather fun to talk through without a lot of the emotion that seems to have spurred discussion on the email list. Those I've talked to on LJ seem a lot more willing to chat about things, and I don't have to worry about being formal.
The prayer time has helped, too. With a recently cleaned room and a greater tendency to sleep in my bed (instead of the couch, which is where I have been exhaustedly falling asleep until about this week), I'm reopening a deeper personal practice. My liturgy journal is behind in postings, but it's not so far behind in being written down. I just have to find the time this weekend to do some catching up.
I picked up issue # 12 of the Army of Darkness comic book. The cover I got, of course, is the one with Ash and the two schoolgirls. I mean, honestly, what did you expect? The back cover, though, indicates that unlucky issue # 13 will involve the death of Ashley J. Williams. I'm curious to see how this plays out, but it's expected to coincide nicely with a Marvel Comics crossover, Marvel Zombies. Why didn't I get into comic books as a kid? This is kinda fun!
I'm also highly amused at two headlines, sitting sid-by-side in the politics section of CNN today:
Um. . . I think that the first and the second one are mutually exclusive. The GOP is apparently not happy with telling you what you can and can't do in your bedroom; it now also wishes to legislate when you're allowed to feel pain for the first time. How's that for civil liberties and personal responsibility?
Time to write my rat of a congresswoman yet again. She's so good at what she does.
Oh yeah: I also have a "terror score" assigned to me for the next forty years. Didn't know you were reading a terrorist's LJ, did ya? I wasn't aware I was writing one until just this morning.
I'll be at Outland tonight. . . We'll see how the 80's/industrial/goth night goes. I'm curious how it'll all play out.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Little Miss Magic", -JB
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November 6th, 2006
11:29 am - Tomorrow, get thee to the polls. . .
I received a flier in my mail the other day.
The cover was simple, efficient, and stirred up emotions.
The words printed there were simple, clear, and left no doubt about the intention:
September 11, 2001
November 7, 2006
Two important days for America's future.
Now, I've seen some low ads. The one that calls Mary Jo Kilroy a supporter of the KKK because she allowed the KKK to have their First Amendment rights is particularly standing out in my head. I also like Sherod Brown being all about the druggies in his campaign. And who could forget my favourite, that Strickland should have stood up, but sat down, while NAMBLA stood up and cheered. Yes, it's clear that we should vote for Blackwell, mostly on his amazing knowledge of the North American Man-Boy Love Association's practices.
But this one. . . well, it's good to know that the RNC is making good on its promise not to campaign using images of Sept. 11th. Not that they ever managed to keep that promise in previous races: Bush used it after specifically stating that he had "no ambition whatsoever to use this as a political issue" in 2003.
I'm glad that casting a vote for a Democrat has somehow become casting a vote for a terrorist regime to take over the US. I was all breathless worrying about how to vote. Now that I've seen that a vote that goes the DNC way is like saying we might have made mistakes in Iraq, that the Patriot Act and suspension of habeus corpus is possibly in danger of being overturned, or that we might, say, sell our ports to foreign governments (oh, wait: that already happened), I think I have an idea of how to vote.
How is it that the Republican Party, the Grand Old Party, the good guys who know how to run a government so cleanly and efficently. . . how is it that they can make me, a voter who thinks on his feet, kinda leans Republican, works to know and understand the issues, and is generally all about having less government in their lives. . .
How is it that I now look like a crazy, left-wing Democratic liberal?
I miss the GOP. Someone, anyone: can you tell me where it is?
Go out and vote your conscience tomorrow, kids.
Washington doesn't seem to have one: we have to be their conscience for them.
(And remember, I find people who vote to be amazingly sexy. . .)
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "Fins", -JB
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May 2nd, 2006
08:16 am - Get out and vote!
Anyone know a good spell for cleansing?
I had to declare a political party when I went in to vote. I'd like to banish the bad mojo that I can feel hanging around me.
I feel all. . . dirty now.
*shivers*
Please provide any banishing spells in the comments. . . Tongues that rest firmly in a cheek are more than welcome :)
Remember, people with "I Voted" stickers are officially sexy, in my book.
Current Location: Southeast of Disorder
Current Mood: dirty
Current Music: "Today's Message", -JB
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November 8th, 2005
01:21 pm - I voted sexy. . . did you?
Today, I have decided that I find one thing incredibly sexy:
"I Voted" stickers.
It doesn't matter where you've placed it, or what kind of sticker it is, so long as it indicates that you voted in today's elections.
But today (or last Tuesday, if your date was different), I wanna see your sticker, baby.
If you can, post a picture of you with your sticker in my comments or on your LJ.
I'll appreciate it. :)
( Mine's below the cut, baby. Open up and see. )
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Mexico", -JB
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07:35 am - Get out and vote, you bastards.
May the gods of my people hear my prayers;
as we go to the polls to choose our leaders,
may it be with wisdom.
-Ceisiwr Serith, A Book of Pagan Prayer
It is always very nice to know that there's a book of Pagan prayer out there that's got some useful stuff in it. I took mine to the polls this morning, and prayed before I began voting. I prayed aloud, but in the confines of my booth, where no one else needed to hear me. It's interesting: I was praying for all of us, but didn't want to disturb my fellow voters. Not that more than five people would have heard me. . . turnout is shockingly low this year.
( Who are the 'gods of my people'? )
After that short prayer I pulled out my candidate cheat sheet (giving political parties and other fun facts) and went to town.
I voted on the things that were important to me, and I'm happy with my choices. I also voted against my least favourite candidate on the ballot, Eddie Pauline, who quite literally stole my email address and keeps sending me crap.
As for issues? Well, I made my decision in the booth, as I always do. I voted for some things I didn't expect to and against things I expected to vote for. The funny thing is, I have a tendancy to forget what I voted for which issue when I leave.
Hell, I have trouble remembering which presidential candidate I voted for in 2000, and if I didn't know the precise issue that changed my mind while I was in the booth, I probably wouldn't even know who got my vote that year.
But I'm sure that I made the right choices for me. It's probably the longest I ever spent in the voting booth, reading through issues. But the thing about going to cast your vote? It feels empowering. It feels right. It feels good. (Even if, like me, you're unsure if your vote was counted in the last election.)
Yes, I expect my friends to have voted today. At least, if your voting day is today, as it is if you live in Ohio.
You cannot complain if you did not vote. And I really do feel that it is your civic duty. Some days, I figure regular trips to the polls should be a requirement for citizenship.
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: "Trouble on the Horizon", -JB
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July 12th, 2005
01:19 pm - Bruce Campbell is all good. . .
Nothing can excuse Wendy's no longer giving you larger fries when you ask them to "biggie size" your meal.
But I did manage to find two new issues of Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop Dead. One cover includes Ash wielding a lightsabre!
Today is a good day, but it would have been better if Wendy's were a team player.
On second thought, as I was looking for a link for their bastard plans to reduce my fry intake, I found their section on animal welfare, and I'm quite pleased with their treatment of chickens. Maybe a chicken sandwich is in order. I don't usually eat it because of the methods of raising and transporting chickens. Call it a "bad run-in" with a transported chicken in my childhood. red_sput will know what I mean.
McDonald's isn't quite so descriptive of their initiatives, though, so I'm curious about their chicken, not that I eat it anyway.
Anyone know where I can get a myrtle branch? I need it to summon me a ghost.
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Truckstop Salvation", -JB
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July 1st, 2005
11:06 am - If the draft starts, I'm gonna marry me a man!
fred_smith pointed out to me today that there's a simple way to get out of any military draft that may occur.
Be gay.
He's totally right. I mean, all you have to do is *say* you're gay. You don't even have to be. And if they want proof, there are all sorts of states where you can go through a ceremony that isn't legal or binding to "prove" your commitment to a gay lifestyle.
I don't think there'll be a draft, but just imagine if there was, and all of a sudden, 2/3 of the 18-26 year old males in the country declared themselves gay and got marriages in states that had made it illegal to prove that they were?
I suppose they'd have to say that gays could serve in the military, or else try and scare people off by legalizing and completely legitimizing gay marriage. . .
And wouldn't that just be horrid?
Being gay is cheaper than moving to Canada.
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "Margaritaville", -JB
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March 31st, 2005
12:20 pm - What you can do
For those interested in the whole "clubbing baby seals" thing, here's a link to "What you can do" provided by my beautiful girlfriend, Tina.
What you can do
Enjoy.
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "Biloxi", -JB
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08:08 am - I really need to go to Canada
Last night I was reading the paper, and I came across a story about the seal-hunt in Eastern Canada.
It was accompanied by the following picture, that really made me feel sick:
( It's not exactly graphic, but the potential in it made me rather sick )
Honestly, I was entirely unaware that seals were still clubbed to death. It's become a kind of a joke, really. If someone does something that's utterly inhumane, they've done something like "club a baby seal". I honestly thought it was a relic of the past, something that wasn't done anymore, at least not legally.
Canada's government, of course, justifies it economically. The costal towns need the cash, they say. The hunt last year "made about $16.5 million last year, primarily from pelt sales to Norway, Denmark and China." The USA does not allow import of seal products, and I'm proud of my country for that.
I'm not worried about the killing of the seals, really. It's like deer in the US: if you don't hunt them, they over populate. In fact, Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans noted that at around 5 million seals, this is almost a record population. Shooting them doesn't bother me.
But clubbing them for sport does. It's simply not necessary.
Heck, I'm not even really concerned about aboriginal and Inuit subsistence hunters clubbing the seals, actually. I have a hard time denying people who really want to live in the way of their ancestors the right to live that way. While yes, it's still inhumane and wasteful (and it's not like the Inuit or aboriginal humters are being more "reverent" about it), it is not sport: it's subsistence. It's life.
I have a very, very big problem with clubbing baby seals for fun and profit. A baby seal pelt is worth about $57. That's the highest price it's ever been. The demand is obviously there.
So I read through the article, which is pretty darn balanced, showing both sides. It talks to the protesters, it talks to the government and the independent fisheries. I'm fairly convinced, though, that I can't really pass judgement on the whole thing unless I go and see it for myself.
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: "Today's Message", -JB
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January 20th, 2005
02:01 pm - Our letter to my congressman:
So, here's what we came up with. It's remarkably cohesive, actually. I chose to send to Mike DeWine, mostly because I've gotten a response from him in the past, and I already had an envelope stamped with his address on it. It'd be a shame to waste the stamp. :)
BTW, I'm most amused that the final line about being a "tax-paying red blooded American" comes from fred_smith.
The line "Billions have been spent on war, and millions have been spent on Tsunami relief: does this make sense?" I added, kinda to help close out the paragraph. Thanks to all who gave a hand :) It goes in the mail today or tomorrow.
( Read more... )
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: "Brown-Eyed Girl", -JB
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