Running Behind, getting caught up...

Not surprisingly, I've been a fan of Keith Olbermann for MANY YEARS now, but this might be the single best broadcast I've ever seen from him...




And here's some other funny, and vaguely relevant stuff for your enjoyment...

Boys have swag, men have style, GENTLEMEN have CLASS.  Patrick Stewart is THE MAN.

If Obama has any balls at all, Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning will receive full pardons by the end of his administration.  (Spoiler: They won't.)  And when they don't under Hillary either, maybe the Right will begin to understand what the Left doesn't like about her.

I probably hate anti-vaxers more than any other camp in the legion of science denialism.  They do orders of magnitude more harm than the Creationists and Climate-Deniers combined.  (And as the parents of two autistic boys, my wife and I have had more run-ins with "Autism Andy's" than I can count. It's all I can do not punch them in the face. If you won't (notice I didn't say"can't"!) vaccinate your children, they should be taken away form you. PERIOD. FUCK YOU. STICK 'EM, JAB 'EM and IMMUNIZE 'EM.(And while you're rotting in jail for child abuse/neglect, we'll immunize YOU while we're at it.) (Asshole.) I am so sick of hearing the media (and fucking OPRAH!) coddle these ignorant fucking morons, and I'm glad the press is FINALLY beginning to call them out on their genocidal bullshit, even if it is about Seventeen Years too late!

Best argument against religion that I've even heard:

Yep.

Kung-fu Panda... (lol)

Probably. (I love both. What the hell, people?!)

It would put me out of a job, but they've got a point!

Two articles that explain everything that is wrong with the world

They're short, funny and well-written. And they're 100%, dead-on-balls accurate.  99% of everything that is wrong with the world is beautifully exemplified in these two articles:

4 Ways Oprah Screwed The World (Nobody Ever Calls Her On)

5 Reasons Conspiracy Theories Are Destroying the World

READ THEM.

 

Republican Economic Polices Suck

By the way, I got something wrong... When I said "Michigan didn't have a hug bidget deficit last year, "that wasn't quite right. We actual had a rather large budget SURPLUS. So I ask again: WHY did this have to happen?!

And here is the KOS Article I mentioned: Minnesota Liberalism Trounces Wisconsin Conservatism
Well worth the read. Check it out. (Especially if you don't want to bother watching the video. LOL)

A Great Victory!

So I bought MY lottery ticket (64 in total, actually, including the pools I'm in), and before anyone talks about the "tax on people who are bad a math" (a sentiment I'd typically share) let me just say that I've calculated MY odds of winning at least a share of the jackpot at 1 in 2.75M (much better than the official, single-ticket odds of 1 in 176M) and the expected value of a ticket right now, given the lump-sum, after-tax jackpot payout is around $2.63. So this is one of those rare times that the $1 ticket price is actually a good deal.  (Hey: If Vegas had a game that paid out $2.63 on average and only charged a buck to play, it would be dead broke in no time!)

But I couldn't care less if I win or not, because earlier today I ALREADY won: The Michigan State House passed the Autism Insurance Reform Bill and starting October first, my two sons will have their speech and language therapy covered under my BCBS plan.

I would like to thank our REPUBLICAN Governor, Rick Snyder, for making this a legislative priority (even though it was the REPUBLICAN-controlled State Senate who stalled the bills, back in 2010, after it was passed by DEMOCRATICLY-controlled State House!) and also to everyone who sent emails, made phones calls, wrote letters, walked for autism, signed petitions, donated money or in any other way supported this incredibly important legislation and cause.

But there remains much more work to do: Twenty States remain that still allow Insurance Companies to discriminate against Autistics, seven of which have legislation pending votes later this year.  For more information about Autism Insurance Reform in YOUR State, go to www.autismvotes.org.  Working together, we CAN make a difference, and my State is now part of that example!

Vince Vaughn

I originally wrote this last night, still steamed over Dharmasatya's comments, and still not entirely sure why she got so far under my skin.  Anyway, I'm over it now. I'm also sick as a dog.  So a bit of the fight has been taken out of me anyway today.  And finally, I've come to the realization, reinforced by Duta's comment in my lats post, that I been both way too angry and way too vulgar lately.  For about the last two months or so, I'd say. And vulgar, angry rants, while cathartic to write, and often very fun too read as well, are just not a good a habit to get into.  So I'm swearing off them (pun intended) for at least the next month or so, just to break the habit. I'm also going to try and speak in normal tone of voice - ixnay with the ALL CAPS.  With that in mind, I'm re-writing this as a more considerate, thoughful piece, that should alienate fewer people, and hopefully be taken more seriously because of it. 

There's been a lot of outrage recently over a joke which appeared in the trailer of Vince Vaughn's new movie, The Dilemma.  Now... my support for LGBT Political and Social issues is unequivocal.  In that past there have been times where I've wavered, but right now, I can safety and happily say that there is no part of the "radical gay agenda" (as the Right refers to it) that I am not behind 100%.  I'll go into what that exactly means, to me, in a moment, but suffice to say, that the LGBT community has a staunch ally and supporter in this blogger.

That being said?  This joke is fine.  This joke in not homophobic.  This joke is not even harmful  In fact... I'll go so far as to say that this joke actually illustrates the very point that outrage appears to be all about in the first place!  Now, I realize that I probably have a bunch of people saying, "You just don't GET it!" All I ask is that you give me a few paragraphs to explain my point, and show you that, yes, I actually do get it.  In fact, I can absolutely empathize with you on the very issue of casual pejoratives.

Anyway, for those who have been living under a rock, here's the joke:

"Electric cars are gay. I mean, not 'homosexual' gay but 'my parents are chaperoning the dance' gay."

OK... I am in complete agreement with GLAAD, etc...  that the word "gay" should not be used as a casual pejorative.  The thing is?  The way I interpreted this joke, when I first heard it?  Is that this is exactly what the joke is saying as well!

To me, the whole point of the joke, the only way it really works, the only interpretation by which it is the least bit funny, is as an acknowledgement that we use the word “gay” to mean “bad” or “stupid” when it shouldnt' be used that way!  The very fact that they whole joke revolves around him having to make that awkward clarification, I took as evidence that, at best, this is a clumsy descriptor, and for the sake of clear communication, if nothing else, it really needs to go.

Do I really believe that he's trying to make some profound socio-political point here? Oh, heck no!  It is Vince Vaughn, after all!  But given the context as I saw it - and hey: I could be wrong! - but given that, if you can’t see beyond the mere use of the word, and find the deeper meaning here (and you don’t have to go that deep, it is Vince Vaughn after all!) then you are just being too sensitive about it!

OK.  Now I'm sure I've really gotten some people angry at this.  And your anger is justified. Too sensitive? How dare I?! (Right?) Who am I to tell you how too feel about something?  And you have a point. So assuming I haven't put you off for good, I beg that you now allow me to put down the shovel and endeavour to climb out of this hole I'm probably in.

The first obvious problem is that, not being gay, trans, etc... myself, one might say that I have no idea how hurtful these casual pejoratives really are.

Ah... but not so.

You see... There’s a synonym for the word “gay,” when it's used in this context.

“RETARDED.”

Think about it… Almost any time someone is mis-using the word “gay,” as in, “This policy is gay!” you can almost always substitute the word, “retarded” and it will mean the same thing: “This policy is retarded!”

Well, guess what?

I have two autistic sons.

And I hate that [expletive deleted] word.

And I hate to hear someone called a “Retard.”

And I hate to hear "retarded" used to mean, "something I don't agree with or don't understand."

And I HATE anything that makes fun of the mentally handicapped.

It absolutely tears my heart out.

Now... Is it the same thing? No. No it's not.  But I offer that's it's close enough for a legitimate concession that I do, in fact, have some clue what it feels like and what's going on here. I may not  know your feeling, but I'm still somewhat familiar with the feeling.  And if you say, "Well, that's not about you, it's about your kids."  Unless you have kids, and special needs kids at that? Then it's you who doesn't know what it feels like. Because I'd give anything to make it about me instead of them.

And while it's a little off topic, I'd like to offer an example of what may have been the worst time I had, "getting over" this, only as evidence that I can, in fact practice what I preach.

At one point, Drawn Together was my favorite TV show. I found it to be positively enlightened as well as completely hilarious when it came to most social issues like racism, sexism, sexuality, gender roles, religion, etc... See... They made fun of those things, using negative stereotypes not to make fun of the groups, but rather to make fun of the bigots who believed that nonsense about them! It took every stereotype and turned it around, to make the joke be on the racist / sexist / homophobe / etc... IMHO, It was brilliant. 

(Disclaimer: Serious, Evangelical Christians will NOT like ths show! They pretty much get savaged in every episode!)

But then I saw the episode, "The Other Cousin."

Half an hour of jokes at the expense of the mentally handicapped. And what's more?  Just a short while after my first born son was diagnosed with Autism. To say that it "hit close to home?" Is a vast understatement. So again... I think I've earned the right to say that I do have some idea what that kind of thing feels like.

And you are still absolutely welcome to disagree with me. Hey: Maybe I shouldn't have let it go.  That's certainly a legitimate point of debate.  Maybe I should have written Comedy Central, boycotted the sponsors, took to the Internet... I did when Michale Savage spouted his Autism Denial nonsense! But I chose to put that aside and keep watching.  And the rest of the series? Was absolute genius.
Am I "over it?" No, not really.

I do own all three seasons of the show in DVD, so they managed to get some money out of me.

But I still can't watch that one episode.

Now what was the point of telling you all that? Well , it brings me to the other half of what I hope will get me to at least the top of the hole, if not out of it.  As a philosophical point, I truly believe that you can joke about anything. Carlin felt the same way, and I agree with him.  It all depends on how you construct the joke.

What's the overall point? Whats the message? What the exaggeration?

For example, my problem with "The Other Cousin" was that the jokes were not about tolerance or understanding or of the challenges the handicapped face in our society, nor were they mocking society for it's stereotypes.  (THAT was the "Terms of Endearment" episode.) The jokes in "The Other Cousin" were just poking fun.  There simply was no context that would make them remotely acceptable.

And just as further roof that I'm not just being too sensitive myself, and thus being hypocritical, as proof that I CAN laugh a little at what life with autism throws at you, there are comics that I read - Clear Blue Water, On the Spectrum, Joey, just to name a few - that use Autism as a source of humor, but do it in an acceptable way.  I'm just pointing that out as further evidence that I am capable in seeing humor even in things that "hit close to home." Again: It all depends on how the joke is constructed.  What the point is.

In the case of the Vaughn joke? As I said, the only way it works, at all, is as an acknowledgement that we use this word, "gay," in ways that we shouldn't.  The message could be stronger, or clearer, fine, (again, it's Vince Vaughn - he's not trying to change the world here) but that still is the only message I see in it.

So what's the point?  What am I trying to say here? Why do I think it's important to let this slide, the same way I let the word "retarded" slide when someone uses it the same way?

Simple: Politics, pragmatism and priority. 

When we get too hung up on trying to control people's language, and trying to go that route to change their thinking? They instinctively pull back.  And it become very easy for our political opponents to simply call, "PC Police!" and, in that one instant, snag up all the moderates who we might have otherwise persuaded to join on far more important, substantive issues.  That doesn't make it right, but it sure does make it easy.

For me? I let the word "retarded" slide so I will be taken that much more seriously on issues like Autism Denial, or Autism Insurance Reform. Give the choice between having people take autism seriously and having my sons' therapy covered by insurance -or- having people stop using the word "retarded" (the same way they use "gay")?  Shoot... if it would help me win on the big issues? I'd start calling things "retarded!"  And you know what? Because of the largely Right Wing canard of "PC POLICE" or "THOUGHT POLICE," we're really not going to get both.  There is no doubt in my mind that we lose traction on the big issues when we let ourselves get hung up on the small ones

So.. . what's in for the LGBT community?  What do I think are the big issues? Those important ones that I claimed to be a strong supporter of?  How about:

Gay Marriage in all 50 states, and at the Federal level?
Company Benefits for Same Sex partners?
Regular Insurance Coverage for GRS?
Hate Crime Legislation?
Equal Employment Opportunities / Anti-Discrimination Policies?
Equal Rights for Adoption?
Striking Down Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

The list goes on and on.  And I am totally with you, 100%, on all of these.  And if I've missed one of the other heavy hitters?  Try me! I'm sure you'll find that we see eye to eye on it as well.  Because I just don't see the "radical gay agenda" as anything but a no-brainer.  Just a group of people who want to be treated the same as everybody else.  (Or course, I might point out how lousy everybody else gets treated, but that's only to say that you might want to aim a little higher, actually! LOL)

And while you can argue that we won't win on the big issues if we don't change how people think about us, I disagree.  I guarantee that you will lose on every single one of these big issues if you keep sweating the small stuff.  And honestly? I think that's a tragedy.  I think these issue are far too important to jeopardize over a lousy Vince Vaughn joke, from a movie that no one would even see if there wasn't such a controversy around it.

Seriously.  Do you know how many people will go see this movie now, for no other reason that this controversy?  (Not to mention that most of them won't see what the big deal was all about?)

Don't believe me? Well, let me ask you a question.

Who is Roger Mapplethorpe?

Unless your a Photographic Art History buff, the only reason you know the answer to that is, back in 1989, some Christian Fundamentalist group got wind of some his work that was going on display in Cincinnati of all places - that great bastion of popular culture and social significance.  It was a small showing, in a small city.  Just par for the course in an obscure art museum, trying to make a meager income attracting a handful of tourists.  But once the controversy took hold? It became a National story! It was huge! Suddenly Mappelthorpe's work is being shown in New York and Chicago!  Everyone wanted to see what all the fuss was about!  The Christian protesters did more to further Mappelthorpe's career that the Art Community had done!

It's true what they say: There is no such thing as bad publicity.

By getting hung up about the Vince Vaugh joke?  You are only helping Vince Vaughn. And you are only hurting GLAAD's and the LGBT community's credibility with moderate people who might otherwise be inclined to support you.

So, for the sake of the "radical gay agenda?"

Let. It.Go.

Worst Woman in the World...

Obscenity warning! (I’m pretty pissed off about this!)


Sharon Angle is a scumbag

With each passing day, I become less and less surprised that Conservatives' attitudes towards women are so backwards. I mean… just look at their representative sample: Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, Christine O’Donnell, Sharon Angle… You know, maybe if conservative women weren’t so fucking stupid, conservative men might think more highly of women in general. (Of course that doesn’t account for the stupidity of conservative MEN, but that for an entirely different post…)

But Sharon Angle has absolutely topped my list. She’s a stupid, lying, hypocritical, self-righteous, dangerous CUNT. Her latest talking point, following months of lies, distortions, misrepresentation and misinformation? She wants to lower Insurance Costs for the people of Nevada by ending that state’s mandate that insurance companies cover “Autism.”

The “quotes” were hers, BTW. She actually said “Autism” making “quotes” in the air with her fingers.

Candidate Angle? GO FUCK YOURSELF.

A bit of disclosure here: I have two children with “Autism.” No, fuck that: They have AUTISM. And no person with two brain-cells to bounce together (which would apparently exclude Sharron Angle) would deny that they have Classic, Kanner’s Syndrome AUTISM. Another undeniable fact is that the intensive speech therapy and special supports they’ve received have helped them make tremendous progress. Without these interventions, based on the work of many PhD’s and other researchers in the field (something the conservatives always seem to be sadly lacking in) the odds are that they would be (1) Non-verbal today and (2) headed towards a lifetime of being institutionalized. (And yes, that would be on the tax payers’ dime. So really, Sharon Angle’s just an idiot.)

Now… In my home state of Michigan none of this therapy is covered by insurance. Not. One. Penny. Of. It. And up until a few years ago pretty much no states covered it. Today the number is 23 and growing every few months. Autism insurance reform has met with very little resistance outside of the insurance lobby and a very few other special interest groups that put dollars ahead of families and handicapped children. IOW: Scumbags.

Now obviously I'm pretty damned far from being an unbiased debater here. I have no problem acknowledging that I have a dog (two, in fact) in this fight. But why don’t we look at the facts here and see what this “expensive mandate” REALLY costs people.

My family spends about $30,000 per year in speech therapy. Florida (the only state I’m immediately familiar with) covers up to $35,000 per child, but we spend $30K, and have TWO. So let’s use thirty-K as a worst-case number. I don’t know what the rate of Autism is these days, but the rate of “Autism” is about 1%. I’m OK putting that in quotes, because if you use that number, you will be including many children with a level of impairment that only the foremost experts will be able to detect. And they won’t need anywhere near the level of support that my boys do. BUT, in the interest of looking at a worst case scenario, we’ll use the 1% and assume that they’ll ALL need $30 per year.

Remember now: these are absurdly expensive assumptions: We spend $30K on TWO kids, are very happy with the results we've gotten, and a huge portion of that 1% would not need that level of support.

So…

$30,000 per year.

…times a 1% occurrence rate = $300 per year, per family.

= $25 per month.

And that’s just for the 20% of people who pay entirely for their own insurance.

For the other 80% of folks, who’s employer picks up roughly ~80% of the tab?

$5.00 per month.

FIVE BUCKS PER MONTH! Fine: Six, if you want to give a break to the other 20% and not charge their policies extra for it.

FIVE DOLLARS, maybe SIX.

That’s what it costs the people of Nevada, and the other 23 states that have arrived in the 21st Century, to prevent the Insurance Companies from discriminating against people with Autism. To save her voters FIVE DOLLARS A MONTH, ($2.50 each, if we’re talking about a married couple) she’s willing to push tens of thousands of families to the brink of (or squarely into) bankruptcy and condemn tens of thousands of children to living out their lives in state institutions, cut off from the world, unable to communicate even their basic needs and feelings in the process.

Sharron Angle? You are not only a cold, heartless, soulless, hypocritical SCUMBAG, but you’re a cold, heartless, soulless, hypocritical scumbag who’d bad at math.

And remember folks… without that help? Most of these kids would end up in state institutions. That’s what used to happen. Again, I don’t know each what that costs, but it ain’t cheap. (Consider the cost of incarcerations, and tack on whatever you think the additional overhead would be to cover the additional medical and psychiatric staff.) That’s putting aside that this is NOT what anyone would prefer or choose for themselves or their children.

I guess that makes Sharon Angle a “Fiscal Conservative.”

I guess that makes Sharon Angle “Pro-Family.”

Personally I think it makes Sharon Angle a “scumbag.”

And, if I were Conservative, just more evidence that women have no place making public policy. Hey, with stupid bitches women like Sharron Angle serving as examples, I can almost see where their misogyny comes from.


------------------------------------

BTW… I’m not throwing out the word, “hypocrite” lightly here. If you caught Keith Olberman’s WPITW on Tuesday you’d have learned that:

But our winner, Sharron Angle, the radical Republican Tea Party candidate for the Senate in Nevada. You heard her plans to phase out Social Security and Medicare and her complaints about how she has to pay for other women‘s maternity leave, and how states have to pay for kids with, air quote, autism, end air quote. They were her air quotes. And you heard her talk about how Harry Reid is a socialist or an anarchist or Marxist, or whatever he is.

Turns out Sharron Angle gets government health care insurance. Her husband is retired from the Federal Bureau of Land Management. So he gets the same federal employee health program insurance he got while he worked there. And it covers his wife Sharron, as does his pension, paid for by contributions made by current civil service employees. It‘s the civil service government equivalent of Social Security.

So the next time she whines about ending this or relieving Nevada of the burden of that, let‘s see her start by cutting off that socialist insurance she gets, her insurance that you and I pay for. Sharron Angle, hypocrite, today‘s Worst Person in the World.

Keith? I love you, man. But you're going too easy on her, and I’m going to just have to try and top you here.


------------------------------------

One last note, while I’ve admitted bias in terms on my own personal interest, I want to point out that this is no Liberal / Conservative partisan bias here on my part. The majority of states that have mandated insurance coverage for Autism are in fact traditionally considered RED STATES. More Republican leaning states have passed Autism insurance reform that Democratic leaning ones. That’s a fact. An embarrassing one that many Deomcrats are working to fix, but if there’s any partisan advantage here, the benefit remains with the Republicans! (Tea-Baggers and Sharon Angle excluded.)

For a complete list, and for more information on how you can help make insurance companies do the right thing, while at the same time saving taxpayers millions of dollars in the future and allowing more people to live productive and independent lives, please visit AutsimVotes.org.


And whatever you do, don’t vote for an stupid, autism denialist like Sharron Angle.

My reply to Duta

(Ed Note: This started out as my reply to poster Duta's comment under my last post.  It got too long, so I put it here.  I'll let it serve as a lead-in to some of the stuff that Steve pasted way back that I wanted to re-visit.)

Duta,

What I have seen countless times, from my own personal experience, is that THE TRUTH in any situation depends almost entirely on ones own point of view. And I think this is a pretty good example of that. You imply a lack of humility on my part for my lack of belief. And you may have a legitimate point, from your point of view. There are a couple of things I would like to point out. The truth, if you will, from my point of view.

First of all... I DO NOT "refuse to believe in a higher power." What I DO is reject the models that have proposed to me so far, all of which I find to be completely lacking in humility, I might add, and engender a most undeserved certainty - especially in their belief in things that are DEMONSTRABLY false.

Now... Do I believe in a "higher power?" Yes. Believe it or not I DO. Is it the same as yours? No, most assuredly not. It the same as ANYONE else's? No, probably not. Not that I've seen so far anyway. But, as I was implying in linking to Prof. Carrol's section on Atheism, Atheism is not the POSITIVE BELIEF in the NON-EXISTENCE of a higher power. It is not as you put it, a REFUSAL to believe. I do not BELIEVE in the existence of "God" as the concept has so far been defined. What I've heard so far falls into the category of either completely absurd, or reasonable, but not very meaningful. In any case NOT BELIEVING in the existence of God is not the same thing as BELIEVING God does not exist.

Which bring me to the OTHER part of this...

As I wrote a while back, regarding "miracles" If "God" is showing humanity any "favor" at all, why does it always seem to be in countries who do more medical research, who have more medical and scientific resources and who have the most money?

Answer: Because it is SCIENCE, not "faith," "god," or any other kind of "magic" that conquered Infant Mortality, Small Pox, Infections, Polio, Pertussis, Measles, Malaria, etc... It is SCIENCE, not GOD who turned Diabetes into a disease that you can live with indefinitely, and is making strides and doing the same for Cancer, Aids and many others. Open-Heart Surgery, Pre-Natal Surgery, Organ Transplants, Artificial Limbs, Artificial Organs... These are the result of SCIENCE and MANKIND'S LABOR and DISCOVERY. NOT God. Until we discovered these things? GOD was keen to let 50% of Children DIE in infancy. God was keen to strike people down in the prime of life, out of the blue, Healthy on Monday, dead on Wednesday, by the MILLIONS, whether they went to church or not. 

It was once believed that lighting strikes were the will of God.  And "He" seemed to destroy countless man-made structures with this display of his "power." Funny how a simple, grounded, Iron rod rendered this awesome power completely harmless, no?  We will do the same with everything else.  I have no doubt of that, all it will take is TIME and KNOWLEDGE yet to  be discovered.  You say we're helpless? I'm not buying it. If we were ever helpless it was when we HAD no science, and ALL we had was "God." If that was God's plan? I have news for you: WE'RE WINNING.

Anti-Biotics, Chemotherapy, etc... Have the same success and failure rate regardless of ones religion, and no attempt to show the benefit of "prayer," independent of other factors has even succeeded. (Hey - without Medical Care, PRAYER alone will KILL YOU, and I can find hundreds of examples of THAT, just ask!) BELIEF maybe, but it's also been shown that BELIEF helps regardless of WHAT you believe IN!  So... hardly evidence of the power of any ONE God.

And the way I see it? If there is a higher power, that is exactly what it's plan was from the start. There is no doubt in my mind that this "higher power" has no interest in interfering with what goes on down here. There IS no "grand plan" as far as I'm concerned. If we become the masters of our environment, and live together in peace and flourish? Then we are a success. And we die waging war, allowing famine or chasing superstition instead of science? Then we have FAILED. And we deserve our fate, having brought it on ourselves.  In short I don't reject the entire IDEA of a higher power, just every one I've been presented with so far. And I do so, because (as I laid out in that earlier piece) to do otherwise, to believe in "miracles" would imply that I believe that God is evil.

Believe me... It is very much for my children's benefit that I put my "faith" in Scientific medicine, even as it currently has very little to offer with regards to autism. What it DOES offer WORKS, and that it is lacking in so many areas is not license for anyone to come along and simply propose ANYTHING. And those that do? Have IN EVERY SINGLE CASE been exposed as frauds (after money) at best, and DANGEROUS at worst - children have DIED because their parents have put their faith is non-scientific "treatments." I will never do that, and I have no problem at all condemning those who do. These "faith healers" and other pseudo-medical charlatans who've had patients DIE who could have been helped by standard medicine, should be in JAIL.

For the sake of my children, my faith is in science. For the sake of ALL MANKIND, my faith is in science and will remain such. As I have said many times, and will say in my next post, in Reply to Steeve, I see no good coming from RELIGION moving forward. And it hardly due to arrogance on my part. It has everything to do with the arrogance of Religion itself.

It is RELIGION I reject. NOT the mere idea of a higher power.

Thanks for your comment.

Stupidity knows no bound...

I was just over on an autsim related site that I visit every now and them, when I came accross THIS.

Now I'm not one to use the "R-word," especially as it quite posisble that the person who wrote this may have actually been a member of the autistic / aspbergers community, but if there was ever a reasonable application, THIS WOULD BE IT.

I'll give the board the benefit of the doubt and assume it's just spam, or that the poster got an email from some RW loon and figured it would make for some good sport, but COME ON!

I mean, youv'e got to love it when someone starts out saying, "I can't believe these liberals believe this stuff!" And the proceeds to list a hundered or so points that liberals DON'T in fact believe.  The conservtaoive lack any self-awareness at all.  They really have NO IDEA how wrong they are, or even that they can even BE wrong. On second thought, screw WRONG, they have no idea that they are anything short of PERFECT.

It's really absurd, and I'd take it aprat point by point, by why bother.  I'm not going to waste my time dignifying it like it deserves any serious consideration.  These idiots are so stupid, they can't even recognize stupidity.  God damned fools.

BTW - that item is NOT typical of the usual content of that site.  Usually I find most posts to be rather interesting.  I can't believe the moderators chose to leave that up.  Totally off-topic, and complete RW garbage propaganda.

This made me sick

Every now and then I read an article that just makes wonder what the hell is wrong with people. OK - to be fair, I actually spend most of my waking hours thinking that, but recently I read something that really kicked it up a notch or three.

Recently, in Concord, New Hampshire, several teens were charged with various crimes and misdemenors after coercing a younger, mentally handicapped classmate of theirs into letting them tatoo obscenities on his body in exchange for their "friendship," protection from their own harrassment and some additional tatoo work. Now as sick and twisted as these little scum-suckers are, what really floored me was the absurd defense offered by the mother of one of the boys charged:

He's the captain of his own ship. Nobody made the kid do that," she said. [...] "What are you going to do, arrest every bystander and call it hazing?"

Now, I realize that it's pretty much instinctual for parents to defend their kids - I'm a parent myself, so I know the drill - but this stupid bitch needs a few things pointed out her...

1) The victim was mentally handicapped. In some instances he may not even be held accountable if he had done this someone else. So right off the bat, putting his responsibility above that of your son's borders on laughable.

2) The victim was threatened, several times, with bodily harm. This includes at least one instance when he was surrounded (held captive, actaully) by the perpetrators, at least one was armed [with the tatoo gun.] That's ASSULT. Period. Even if NOTHING else happens. Theatening someone with bodily harm in a such a way as they believe the threat and you are in a position to carry it out is ASSULT.

3) Your son is not a liscenced tatoo artist. Thus in the state of New Hampshire, as in most states, him tatooing ANYBODY is, in and of itself, a crime.

4) Tatooing a minor in the State of New Hampshire is forbiden. So again, in and of itself this would STILL be a crime, even if #3 did not apply!

That's three crimes committed, before you even consider the bodily mutilation that the victim endured (and the fact that the victim was 'compensated' in WEED) at the hands of that piece of shit you call your son. Isn't a rape victim "Captain of her own body?" I mean - it's not like anyone's making her stay there, right? Maybe I can fire a gun in this disgrace to women everywhere's general direction and suggest that as "Captain of her own body" she should have not just stood there, in the path of the bullet.

I sincerely hope that these four scum bags are charged to the fullest extent of the law, including being charged with hate crimes wherever applicable. And while I'm usually loath to hold one person accountable for the actions of another, in this case I would have little problem going after the Mother as well. At a minimum, she should lose her parental priveliges and and legal influence that goes with them. Negligence... shit, I don't know. What I can tell you is that if I had been there (or knew of it) and did anything short of calling the police, my parents would have KICKED. MY. ASS. And I would have richly deserved it!

These four rat-bastards are sociopaths. They should be committed after their jail term is up. And the fault lies with the parents who didn't instill even the most basic levels of humanity into these four future career criminals. My only compensation is that they'll all probably be dead by 30. I hope that the memory of every one of their future victims haunt theirs parents, as does the guilt that they failed in their charge of raising these kids, and instilling some values in them - ANY values, at all!

What the fuck is wrong with people?!

Anti- Anti-Vaxxer Movement Rant

I know, I know. I promised one about energy.  I'll get to it, I swear.  But I HAD to tap this first.

I came accross THIS which was linked to by Skeptic Dictionary (my bible.)  It's a fantastic write up absolutely skewring the anti-vaccinemovmenet and their blatant intellectual dishonesty.  I'm coming to the realization that one of the reason I like MMFA so much is not just that it's liberal - after all, there are TONS of good, well-written liberals sites and blogs out there, and I don't spend half as much time on all of them put together!  But, what MMFA essentially focus on is the Right's intellectual dishonesty. THAT'S at the core of thearguments they make, and that kind of argument really appeals to me.

Now... I don't see the Anti-Vaxxer movement or Alternatve Medicine in General to be a partisan or a poltical problem.  In fact there are elements of both Conservtaive Anti-Science (Faith Healing, for example) and Liberal Anti-Science (Product liability, anti-corporate/big-Pharma fears) in all areas of 'Alternative Medicine.'  So honestly, I don't give a fig about the politics behind this psudeo-scientific nonsense.  Liberal or Conservative, right or left, My feelings on this, as with all matters scientific, are very simple:

"Alternative Medicine" is just another way of saying "Stuff that doesn't pass scientific muster or double-blind clinical testing." IWO: Bullshit.  And Skepdic has dozens of articles in it that do a better job tearing down this nonsense down than I even want to try.  But whatever, as long as you're not denying your children life saving medicine, opting for prayer instead - which is a nice way of saying, "MURDERING YOUR CHILDREN"- then I really don't care what you waste your money on, as long as you don't try to put into some kind of National Health Plan that MY TAX MONEY pays for.  Barring that?  Buy all the placebos you want.

But the Anti-Vaxxer movement is DANGEROUS.  Hundereds of children have DIED in this country alone and infectuous diseases that were once considered extinct in the developed world are now on the rise again in many countries.

1) As far as I'm concerned, Jenny McCarthy, as the public face (Josesh Goebels) of anti-vaxxer propaganda, shares the same proportion of blame for the 505 deaths that occured between June, 2007 and March 2010 as one might attribute to Goebles for the holocaust.  She's facing 505 counts of accessory to MURDER as far as I'm concerned.

2) If you, as a parent, have chosen not to vaccinate your child, and do not have a DIAGNOSABLE, SCIENCE-BASED, MEDICAL REASON for doing so: YOU ARE A BAD PARENT.  And if your childeren become ill and/or die, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE.

3) As the father of two autistic boys I can say this no more plainly:

•  If your autistic child has unvaccinated younger sibilings, YOU ARE A BAD PARENT. 
• If you have wasted you money on any number of unproven therapies you are not only a FOOL, you are a BAD PARENT for diverting resources that should have been spent paying for SPEECH THERAPY, and possibly SCIENCE BASED medication.
• If you have exposed your child to RISKY, unproven practices such as Chealation?  If I had my druthers I'd take those kids away from you, put you in jail, and put in jail the QUACK and FRAUD of a physician that prescribed and/or carried it out.  (And one already has: in PA, for manslaughter.  If I had been on that jury, I would have gladly gone as high as 'murder in the first' for anyone carrying out deadly experiments on handicapped children.)

Science based medicine, is the ONLY medicine.  Anything else is nonsense.  No better than a bunch of stuff I just make up out of the blue. 

Just when I think I'm out... they DRAG ME BACK IN!!!

This is NOT another post on the health care bill.  I've said my piece, and  my opinion hasn't changed.

I want to USE a provison of the health care bill, and another moronic email I got from a certain conservative I know to do a little good old fashioned ranting, and demonstrate once more that while the truth depends on your point of view, some of us have a far more defensible point of view!

Background: I have two autistic sons.  If you weren't aware of how insurance companies largely treat autsim, here's a clue, from another Michigan parent of 2 autie's, that I've linked to before, that I think that sums it up pretty nicely. That was pretty much MY experience, almost word for word, anyway.

Now... in this new health care bill there is some stuff concerning this very issue.  You can read the details here but basically: plans offered by state-based exchanges will have to cover speech/behavioral therapy for autism, and plans offered in the individual and small group markets outside the exchange will also have to cover autism. 

I will say this right up front: This bill does NOT help ME.  My family is insured by a LARGE group plan, through my employer and, like most people in Michigan and about 34 other states, will continue to see their childeren discrinimated against, and refused coverage for necessary, scientifically proven and medically necessary speech and behavioral therapy.  (And for the record, I am NOT an anti-vaxxer, and I do NOT practice ANY FORM of 'alternative medicine.'  IMHO, if 'alternative medicine' was worth a damn, it would be called "MEDICINE."  And I have little patience for arguing with those who believe otherwise so, please, DON'T BOTHER.)  In any case, my children will continue to face this discrimination.  And yeah: I'm disappointed.  (Like everyone else, for one reason or another.)

However... my opinion of the provisions IN the bill, largely reflect my opinion OF the bill: They don't go far enough but, compared to the status quo, we (the autistic communtiy) are better off now than we were a week ago.

And Autism Votes felt that, despite being disappointed that the bill didn't end autism discrimination one and for all, they should recognize the hard work that was done on our behalf by three member of congress in particular:

Representative Mike Doyle, DEMOCRAT, PA
Senator Robert Menendez DEMOCRAT, NJ and
Senator Chris Dodd, DEMOCRAT,  CT

And what to my wondering eyes did appear in my inbox, from the most conservative, Republican man I know?

"Looks like our Democratic congress dropped the ball on Autsim again!"

W. T. F.?!  WHO DROPPED THE BALL?!

Even if, as ClassicLiberal pointed out, the biggest insurance company recipient in terms of dollars is Max Baucus, the fact is the Republicans didn't offer a damn thing! NOT. A. SINGLE. BLOODY. THING!

They locked themsleves out of the debate completely and sat on their hands with their thumbs up their asses doing nothing but saying no to everything and lying about the whole thing from day one!

Riiiight.  The failure was on the part of the Democrats.  Well... it was, I guess: They kept trying to please the REPUBLICANS and get any one of those bastards to vote for these needed reforms!

That being the case, I'll be dancing naked in the 9th circle of hell before I'll accept a conservative blaming any of this bill's shortcoming on the Democrats.

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In the interest of full disclosure, I will have to point out that the majority of States that mandate insurance coverage, about 2/3 of them, are traditionally RED STATES.  (Not surprisingly, CT, PA and NJ are among the few Blue States that do.)  So I'm plenty pissed at some of these STATE legislatures, like Michigan's, who are run at least in part by Democrats and/or have a Democratic Governor, and haven't passed this no-brainer yet. 

But I still know who our friends in CONGRESS are!