HapMerrJoy ChrisNakkwanziYule Everyone!

What?  I like Puppies!

Okay let's take a look at a list for a moment before we start the actual rant.

1. Bodhi Day: 8 December - Day of Enlightenment, celebrating the day that the historical Buddha (Shakyamuni or Siddhartha Guatama) experienced enlightenment (also known as Bodhi).
2. Winter Solstice: 21 December-22 December - midwinter
3. Mōdraniht: or Mothers' Night, the Saxon winter solstice festival.
4. Saturnalia: the Roman winter solstice festival
5. Christmas Eve: 24 December
6. Yule: Pagan winter festival that was celebrated by the historical Germanic people from late December to early January.
7. Kwanzaa: 26 December - 1 January - Pan-African festival celebrated in North America
8. Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. 

   

   Huh, maybe should have left the puppies outside.

There are many many more Holidays and Times of Observance, but this gives you some idea of just how insanely hectic the month of December is when it comes to religious/spiritual celebrations. Now that we have this background set, ON WITH THE RANT!

Now, for years now I have heard people saying really not bright things like “We should say Happy Holidays” instead of (Insert your chosen Holiday here) so as not to offend people. This year especially I have seen article after article of opinion pieces (No way they could ever be called news pieces) saying that we all need to conform and “quit pushing our religious beliefs on other people.” Well I say bullcrap! (Actually I say something much worse, but I try to tone it down for the faint of heart.

Go towards the light, Carol Ann!

With very few exceptions, most of the events celebrated this time of year have deep, spiritual meanings. The followers see a strong connection with the faith/beliefs that drive them and the celebrations they participate in. When a Christian wishes you a Merry Christmas, he is celebrating the birth of his Savior. When a person of Jewish Faith wishes you a Happy Hanukkah, she is celebrating the power of her God in times of troubles. There is a much deeper meaning there than wrapping presents or lighting candles. Deeper meaning that just isn't covered by a generic Happy Holidays.

Our government grants us the Freedom of Religion. It gives us the right to practice our faith in all of its myriad forms. Despite what so many people seem to think, it does not grant us Freedom from Religion. Beyond controlling what can or cannot be displayed on Government properties, no laws protect people from a Hearty MERRY CHRISTMAS or even a God bless you!

When I was growing up in LA (Lower Alabama), we didn't have a whole lot of religious diversity in my home county. I don't think I knew a single Jewish or even Catholic person until I hit college. Diversity consisted of whether or not you were Baptist, Methodist or even occasionally Episcopalian. So needless to say, saying Merry Christmas wasn't even an issue. It would have never even occurred to my family to worry about offending someone by saying it.

(Huh, I have absolutely no idea what the previous paragraph's aside was supposed to do. But hey it was a neat little anecdote right? )

Ahh toasty!

Basically I cannot possible Grok how people can be offended by Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah. The people wishing this upon you aren't proselytizing and trying to convert you. 9 times out of 10, they are simply wishing you all the best out of the simple joy of the season. How can you possibly be offended when someone is (Gasp Shudder) being nice? Here is a concept. Instead of being offended, smile and nod then wish them the same in whatever belief system you follow. I know it is a radical idea, but maybe being nice to each other can catch on.

In closing, let me say the following to all of my readers:

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Joyous Kwanzaa! Cool Yule! Happy Holidays! May whatever Faith or Belief that sustains you keep you safe during this festive time of year and see you healthy and happy in the year to come.

End of Rant!

and that's a fat...err fact!

Look Ma, they gave me a new hat at work!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/09/diners-called-fat-girls-on-restaurant-bill-check-cameo-club-cardroom-lounge_n_2267805.html

Okay so file this one away under the “Wow Stupid that thick should be culled from the Gene Pool.” Picture this, ladies enter into a restaurant and enjoy a good meal with presumably good service. They go to leave and discover that their server/s have typed in an extremely offensive description of them on their ticket. They do what Ass's are supposed to do and complain and don't stop complaining until some sort of satisfaction is found. They even received an official apology from the Company Heads.

Now, believe it or not, my rant isn't about these ladies. They were rightfully offended, complained and got satisfaction. End of story. No, my dear friends. My rant is about just how STUPID the person that wrote the comment was.

Not that long ago I wrote a rant about another mentally lacking person who wrote “Lady Chinky Eyes” on a similar receipt. Now, I see this grand stupidity repeating itself. Now folks, I am actually okay if you don't like someone. I am okay if you think that someone looks like a cross between Yoda and Golum from LOTR. That is your right. You have the right to (Peacefully) dislike someone and even mock them in your head. But for Crom's sake, keep it in your head!

That's right! Keep the information in your head. Put it behind a firewall, snicker quietly to yourself and move on. Share it with a friend if they are of a similar mindset. Do not, I repeat DO NOT type it into a computer system where it will be then printed out for the customer to see. I promise you that seeing yourself described as “fat” does not encourage smiles and happy feelings in most people. It actually tends to piss most people off.

It is okay if you don't like the way someone looks. It is both hunky and dorey that you feel that a person might make a good stand in for Shamu the Killer Whale at SeaWorld. I personally have seen many people of the years that made me think, “HOLY CRAP!” However, especially when I was at work, I never voiced those thoughts to either the customer or friends.

Should this moron be fired? Hell yeah! Should the manager who seemed to find this all amusing be reprimanded? Also Yeah! Should the owners be commended for acting quickly to fix the issue, also a resounding Yes. The truly sad part is that this should have never happened and when it did happen it should have never made it further than say the Shift Leader. It was an easy fix with a simple solution. Erase the charge for the meals and apologize profusely to the rightfully offended party. This isn't rocket science, people.

In end, it is simple. If you want to keep working and eating, keep your big mouth shut and the insults out of the billing system.

End of Rant

Where's the (Organic) Beef?

Hey Steroids just means there is more to love, right?

 

 

    http://news.yahoo.com/russia-may-halt-u-beef-pork-imports-trade-182345229--finance.html

     So once again I find a very interesting and insightful article about an issue (Chemicals and hormones in our meats) and once again what got me to thinking was the comments that occurred afterwards.  Many different people commented on how we needed to just the moo cows and little piggies run free and eat wholesome, free range forage instead of locking them into tiny stalls and force feeding them a slurry of corn, wheat and hormones/chemicals.  They essentially said that we needed to back to the old timey way of raising our cattle.

     Now whereas I do support the spirit of these ideas, I think that anyone who actually believes that we could return to those old ways and still even have a chance of feeding the Billions of people (Millions here in the US) in the world are woefully unaware of reality.  The times when we could feed the masses with free range animules has long since past.

     Now don't get me wrong, if you want to feed your family organically then it is a fairly easy thing to do.  These days, even people living in apartments in the big cites are learning (relearning) how to grow their own veggies and fruits.  Home owners with even the smallest yards are discovering that they can have enough chickens to supply them with eggs and the occasional leg.  This is all very small scale though.  Even the Professional Organic Farmers simply cannot produce enough food to feed all of the none farmers in the country.

     Every year there are more and more people to feed using less and less land.  This trend is not going to change until the Zombie Rapture comes.  The only chance Suppliers have is to keep up the Industrial Farm approach.  This means producing as much beef, pork and poultry as possible as quickly as possible and the only way to do that is to do it factory style.  Cram as many animals into a small a space as possible and feed them a cocktail that will make them grow as fast and as fat as possible.

     Is this healthy?  Hell no!  Is it harmful?  I'd say 89% chance of Hell Yeah!  Is it the only way to even come close to feeding the world as long as we keep pumping out babies.  Oh Hell Yeah!  

     Now I eat organic as much as possible given these tough financial times.  During the Spring/Summer/Fall periods I grow my own veggies.  As soon as we get extra cash, I am even installing a chicken coop in our very large back yard.  Individuals who are willing to work at it can at least supplement the things they buy from the stores, but people who expect farmers and ranchers to feed the whole world the way they did in the old days are delusional.

     Billions of people are slowly stretching the world's spaces and resources to the breaking point and dreaming of doing things the way our parents and grandparents did just won't work.  As more and more people are born, science will have to come up with more and more ways to produce food to feed them.  You can be damned sure that these ways will involve chemicals, drugs and hormones.  So unless the world stops eating, this is pretty much your future.  It ain't pretty and it ain't healthy but it is reality.  If you don't like it, buy local, buy organic and grow your own food.  It won't save the world or feed the multitudes, but it can make your life and your little corner of the world a better place.

The End!

Dare I say it?  End of Rant

Its a Conspiracy, I tell you!

http://news.yahoo.com/history-detective-did-churchill-sacrifice-city-protect-secret-180400260.html

http://news.yahoo.com/black-boxes-cars-raise-privacy-concerns-082047728.html

As most of you know by now, one of the first things I do when I get up at the crack of noon is drink about a pot of coffee and go through news feeds from 8 different sources. (Yes including Fox News.) It is my way of waking up and seeing what is going on in the world before tackling my oh so difficult job of sitting at my computer in my pajamas drinking coffee and writing down the information that the little blue gnomes have stored inside my headparts the night before.

So today I went through my news and saw two articles (See above links) that made me go, Hmm. So without hesitation (Okay well actually after another pot of coffee and a homemade Pepperoni & Cheese Biscuit plus potty break), I set fingertips to keyboard to create this sure to be amazing blog. (Well, either amazing or completely ignored. I have trouble telling the two apart sometimes.)

What is the fascination the human race has with Conspiracies? Why do we always feel the need to find patterns of intent in seemingly random events? Why do we still cuddle close to these ideas long after they have been proven to be false? A well known Atheist once said, “Man chooses to see patterns in things because he is afraid of being alone in the Universe. In his mind, patterns mean that some great driving force is at work in the Universe.” (Not going to say the person's name. Anyone who can correctly identify this person will get an honorable mention here in a future blog.) I think Conspiracy Buffs fall into that same category.

People hate the idea that Shift just happens. They need to believe that some greater force beyond blind chance is behind things that they cannot comprehend. So they invent Conspiracies. “The Moon landings were faked!” “There was more than one gunman in the Kennedy Assassination!” “Obama is plotting with the UN to take over the world!” “911 was a secret plot by the US!” There are hundreds if not thousands more. People stare at grainy photos or badly blurred films and believe what the so called experts tell them.

Now this blog isn't an attempt to debunk any conspiracy. That's not my job. Besides, if the tons of information available hasn't dissuaded the Buffs then nothing I say will. This piece is just my current nod to the whole Conspiracy community. (I say current because I did a conspiracy specific blog not that long ago under “Cry Bullcrap!”) The two articles above perfectly illustrate the Conspiracy Mindset both in an established conspiracy and one in its infancy.

Let's take the established one first. Much like the “Roosevelt knew in advance that Pearl Harbor would be bombed and let it happen so he could get us into WWII” (One of my personal favorites), the whole “Churchill knew that Conventry would be bombed and let it happen so that the Nazis wouldn't know that the Brits had broken their code system” is a conspiracy that just won't die. Studies have been done and volumes have been written on the subject that debunk this idea, but people refuse to let it die. Instead of studying the historical data, the “experts” cite one or two random quotes from people who Might have been involved. I truly believe that someone could invent a time machine, send the Buffs back in time to observe the events themselves and the Buffs would still cry foul.

Now onto the Conspiracy in the making. Buffs are claiming that black boxes in newer automobiles will be used by the Government to track and control citizens movements and freedoms. Now keep in mind that black boxes in cars have been around since the early 90s. In the past 12 years or so I haven't seen any signs of ANY sort of control on our highways, let alone some form of government control. The Hoopla has come about because now, Automakers are actually letting people know about the boxes.

Course, the vast majority of objections I am reading to the black boxes is along the lines of “Wait, if I am speeding while driving drunk and texting with my seatbelt unfastened and I have an accident, I won't be able to lie about it.” Basically people are objecting because if they do something illegal, it will be much easier to prove it. One Tater does mention a complete fictitious device which will allow the Government to track and control cars by remote control from orbit which I find is the height of paranoia. If the “Government” could control vehicles from orbit through black boxes, we'd have a lot fewer plane crashes. Also, keep in mind that with modern satellite technology, the Forces that be don't need some special gadget installed in your car. We have spy sats up there that can spot a field mouse farting in tall grass from high orbit. They would have little trouble tracking your SUV on a country road.

So, why this fascination..nay obsession with conspiracies? Why do they persist decades, sometimes centuries after they have been completely debunked? Maybe it is a need to see patterns where there aren't any or maybe we secretly love the idea of mysterious forces (Illuminati, Free Masons, League of Shadows etc.) interfering with our lives. Maybe it makes us feel special to think that our lives are important enough for the Grand Poobahs of the Hidden Order of Mystic Knights of the Hidden Chambers (GPHOMKHC for short) to meddle with. All I can say for sure is that as long as Humans exist, we will always find conspiracies hiding around every corner.

Course, keep in mind as you go about your day that just because something is a conspiracy doesn't automatically make it not true.

End of Rant

I just don't grok Pollyticks

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/06/democrats-watch-in-awe-as-mcconnell-filibusters-himself/#.UMEwtYcQQog.facebook

     So Mitch McConnell introduces a movement (The grist of which scares the crap out of me because it basically would give the President unlimited power to increase the Debt Limit on his own.) with the express purpose of producing a bill that "Not even Democrats will vote for."  THEN when the Damnocrats go "OH BOY!" and call for a vote, the old geezer panics and is forced to filibuster his own bill.  

     Now forget the idiocy of his oh so brilliant idea, let's look at the real stupidity of having a governmental style that allows the person who INTRODUCES a bill to basically cry "Backsies!" and try to block it.  This isn't 2nd grade softball where you get a do over when you miss the ball.  By pulling a truly stupid stunt in the first place, he was forced to make himself look like an idiot when his stunt backfired.  Really smooth Mitch.

     Don't get me wrong, the bill should have never been introduced in the first place.  Giving either the President, House or Senate the ability to increase the debt limit (Huh since it keeps getting raised, maybe the Debt Suggestion instead?) without the express consent of the others is an insanely scary idea.  Mitch should have kept his big mouth shut or at least got someone else besides himself to oppose the bill.  Yes it would have looked bad to have a member of your party opposing you, but at least you wouldn't look like a moron.

End of Rant

They took the jobs...that no one else would work!

http://news.yahoo.com/illegal-immigration-drops-decade-long-rise-050220584.html

     Above is a very interesting article about how illegal immigration is at all all time low due to tougher enforcement of immigration laws, better patrols along the borders and the suckish Economic Times that the US is going through.  It is a very good read which raises some interesting points.  BUT as usual, the article itself is not the subject of this blog.

     As usual, my comments are on...well the comments that follow the blog.  They mention two points that prove to me that no one really reads these articles past the headline.  The comments show just how little the so-called readers actually paid attention or comprehended what was written.

     Point the first:  There are loads of comments about how this article isn't true because it is impossible to count the actual number of illegal aliens in the US so how can we know that Illegal Immigration has dropped?  Well, if you read more than a few words of the piece, you will grok that they are talking about people trying to get into the US not the ones already living here.  In other words, it measures the number of people trying to get into the country illegally not the ones who already have.  Still that point is really just picking nits so let's move onto point two.

     Point the second:  GODS I am so tired of people ranting about how (Insert Immigrant Group Name here) is "Stealing American jobs."  I really get annoyed when people say "I can't find work because of the (Racial Minority Group here) down the street took them."  (As a side note, folks really should be more considerate.  Even if we were to somehow stop all forms of immigration, those "minorities" that so many people love to hate on are rapidly becoming Non-Minorities and driving forces in both state and federal government, but that is grist for another blog.)  

     People who decry Illegal Aliens are stealing American Jobs fail to comprehend that the vast majority of jobs being stolen are jobs 90% of Americans don't want.  Americans, in some vast sense of entitlement, want jobs in air conditioned buildings with regular breaks and benefits with salaries of $15.00 an hour.  They feel, no matter what level of education or training they have, that they deserve only the best jobs with the best pay.

     The jobs "stolen" include the hardest, dirtiest lowest paying jobs in the country.  Field laborers, Construction Roustabouts, and dozens of other jobs that have you working under  a blazing hot sun (Or freezing temperatures, depending on where you are) for bare minimum pay for 8-12 hours a day.  

Attempts to fill these jobs with non-Immigrant workers have pretty much proven that, even when given the opportunity, non-Immigrant workers simply refuse to do the job.  The next link is from the Huff Post, but actually occurred.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/22/georgia-immigration-law-f_n_882050.html

     Americans seem to have this attitude that certain jobs are beneath them.  They feel that they shouldn't have to work those jobs because they "deserve" better.  They'd rather starve to death or go on the Dole than work in the fields or other jobs.  So the fact that they can claim Immigrants (Legal or Not) are stealing their jobs is ludicrous.  You can't steal something that has already been thrown away as unwanted.  So until Americans suck it up and start working these jobs, I say fudge it.  Let whomever is willing to do the job...well do the job.

      Do I support Illegal Immigration?  No.  Do I believe that Illegal Immigrants are stealing the jobs of hard working Americans?  No.  Do I feel that every person should receive the same fair pay for doing the same job regardless of Race/Creed/Religion?  Absolutely.  Just make sure that you are willing to do the same job as the other guy for those same wages.

End of Rant

Buy my books, I'm hungry!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AEH3A2Y

     This is of course a shameless plug of my new book which is a compilation of many of the more popular blogs here interwoven with completely new material.  I post it here just in case any of the readers of this and my other blog do not follow my FB page and are not aware of it.  The book is available from Amazon.Com for .99 for Kindle and hard copy from the same source for $4.00.  (See how much you save when you save a tree?)  I hope you buy it and enjoy it half as much as I did writing it.

Insert Shameless Plug here