Oh God I'm One of Those People

My boyfriend and I adopted a dog on Sunday, his name is Ralph, we call him Ralphie, and he is the cutest little puggle. He is really smart except when it comes to running into walls and being afraid of the air conditioner. We somehow managed to 75% potty train him in three days. Monday was a hard day as he was by himself for five hours. That being said, he only relieved himself on the pee pads. Sunday he had one and a half accidents and Monday morning he pooped for the first time on the carpet. Since then, Ralphie has only peed on the pee pad in the middle of the night while we were sleeping or when I was at school today, otherwise he has gone outside every time and either went out on his own or would signal to us that he needed to be let out.

I have become one of those people, one of those people who talks about their dog's bathroom habits. One of those people who takes pictures of their dog and posts them online. Who creates little videos of him stealing a potato or chasing his demon tail and then posts them on their facebook. I have become one of those people who writes a blog about their dog, posts it on the internet, and puts a share link on their facebook. I have become one of those people.

Oh God.

I guess this is what happens when you are in love and get a puppy.

I'm kind of OK with that.

Posting an Outline

Yesterday I had to give a speech about organic produce, since it's been awhile I'm just going to post my full context outline.

Organic Fallacies

Introduction:

By a show of hands how many of you eat organic?

How many of you eat organic because it is more nutritious?

How many of you eat organic because it is free of pesticides?

How many of you eat organic because it is safer?

To quote Penn and Teller “Organic food has become a religion”.

People buy into the dogma of living an organic lifestyle and believe all kinds of things about organic foods that are fallacies, exaggerations and propaganda perpetuated by the organics industry.

Did you know that the e-coli contaminated spinach outbreak was traced to a California farm that was in the process of converting to organic?

Organic-philes have too many arguments in favor of eating organics to cover in a seven minute speech, in order to convince you to buy conventionally farmed produce. I will focus on three of the most common fallacies of organic produce: safety, pesticides and nutrition.

I.                   Beginning with safety.

A.      The 2006 e-coli outbreak was tracked to Mission Organics, a farm that was converting from conventional to organic farming.

1.      In order to become a certified organic farm, the farmers cannot use any synthetic pesticides, manure or herbicides for three years. To ensure that the crops raised there do not contain any trace elements from previous farming methods. This farm however leased a plot of land from an existing Angus cattle ranch.

B.      E-coli bacteria were found in the water near the farm, and the cattle’s manure was also found to be contaminated with the e-coli bacteria.

1.      The farmers claim that they do not know where the e-coli may have come from but considering that the adjoining cattle farm had an outbreak of e-coli it is highly likely that the newly organic farm was fertilizing their spinach with infected cow manure and the e-coli grew into the crop.

a.       Had it been an e-coli outbreak in pineapples traced back to Dole it would be front page news, but since it was an organic farm the news sources the possibility that organic fertilizer had contaminated the crops, instead blaming the contamination on the possibility of feral pigs crossing through the cattle fields picking up manure, and accidentally contaminating the spinach.

b.                              If organic agriculture is the source of the largest contamination of produce I can think of in my lifetime, the idea that organics is safer frankly is a hard pill to swallow.

II.                Let’s move on to Pesticides.

A.      According to the University of Berkley website, “Until recently, nobody bothered to look at natural chemicals (such as organic pesticides), because it was assumed that they posed little risk. But when the studies were done, the results were somewhat shocking: you find that about half of the natural chemicals studied are carcinogenic as well.

B.      Most organic farmers (and even some conventional farmers, too) employ mechanical and cultural tools to help control pests. These include insect traps, careful crop selection (there are a growing number of disease-resistant varieties), and biological controls (such as predator insects and beneficial microorganisms).

C.      A recent study compared the effectiveness of a rotenone-pyrethrin mixture versus a synthetic pesticide, imidan. Rotenone and pyrethrin are two common organic pesticides; imidan is considered a "soft" synthetic pesticide (i.e., designed to have a brief lifetime after application, and other traits that minimize unwanted effects).

D.      It was found that up to 7 applications of the rotenone- pyrethrin mixture were required to obtain the level of protection provided by 2 applications of imidan. It seems unlikely that 7 applications of rotenone and pyrethrin are really better for the environment than 2 applications of imidan, especially when rotenone is extremely toxic to fish and other aquatic life.

E.      It should be noted, however, that we don't know for certain which system is more harmful. This is because we do not look at organic pesticides the same way that we look at conventional pesticides.

F.       We don't know how long these organic pesticides persist in the environment, or the full extent of their effects. When you look at lists of pesticides allowed in organic agriculture, you find warnings such as, "Use with caution. The toxicological effects of [organic pesticide X] are largely unknown," or "Its persistence in the soil is unknown."

G.     Again, researchers haven't bothered to study the effects of organic pesticides because it is assumed that "natural" chemicals are automatically safe. [I’m not sharing this information to scare you away from ever eating organic again] It is only meant to let you know what you are or aren't getting when you make such a purchase. Unless you know your grower personally, there is no guarantee that your produce has been grown without pesticides or other chemicals. It's a point to consider, given the substantially higher cost of organic foods.”

H.     When testing for pesticides, you have to specifically test for each individual pesticide. Organic produce may have higher concentrations of organic pesticides than conventional produce contains of synthetic pesticides, unfortunately as of yet no one has bothered to test the contamination levels of organic pesticides, which is genuinely disconcerting given the fact that half of all organic pesticides are carcinogenic.

III.             The Organic Industry totals more than $20 billion a year and is growing at double digit rates. Organics is Big Business. A huge section of the marketing of organic food is dedicated to the fallacy that organic food is more nutritious.

A.    According to Organic Farmers and Growers some studies have shown there are benefits to eating organic food, while other studies say there is no marketable difference in the nutritional value of organically farmed produce and traditionally farmed produce.

1.      In 2009 the Food Safety Administration in Britain released a report that said, “Organic food is no healthier and provides no significant nutritional benefit compared with conventionally produced foods.”

2.      The report looked at fifty years of evidence published on the different nutrient levels in produce and livestock from both farming methods and also the health benefits of eating organic food.

3.      The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and concluded “that there's no good evidence that consumption of organic food is beneficial to health based on the nutrient content…”

4.      That while small differences in nutrient content were found between organic and conventionally produced food, they were unlikely to be of any public health relevance".

a.       To quote Gill Fine the FSA director of consumer choice, "This study does not mean people should not eat organic food. What it shows is that there is little, if any, nutritional difference between organic and conventionally produced food and there is not evidence of additional health benefits from eating organic food. If they are buying organic on the basis that it is healthier, then that is not the case.”

b.      The National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine, The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, Mayo Clinic, The American Diatetic Association, The U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Dairy Council all agree that there is no additional benefit from organic food.

IV.             In conclusion to quote, Diane Barret, director of the Centre for Fruit and Vegetable Quality at the University of California at Davis, “because so many other factors affect nutrients in crops, including soil quality, climate, sunlight, rainfall, freshness, ripeness when picked and plant variety. To compare organic with conventional crops, you need to grow them under identical conditions. That is a challenge, since even small changes, such as weather and the time of picking, can make a big difference in the level of nutrients in a fruit or vegetable.”

A.      There are too many factors that affect the nutritional quality of our produce. Short of dissecting and testing every piece of fruit or vegetable you eat there really is no way to determine the specific nutritional value.

B.      If you are truly concerned about what goes into your food the only way to ensure how your produce is raised is to farm it yourself.

C.      If you can’t raise your own crops and need to buy them, then please purchase what you want.

1.      If you are concerned about pesticides, remember that organic does not mean pesticide free.

2.      Organic is not healthier, safer or more nutritious.

3.      Your purchases should be based on what apple is more cost effective and riper instead of whether or not it is organic.

So Renee is doing this pay it forward thing

With blog awards and chose my blog as one of her favorite.

Trouble is I am now supposed to list my favorite blogs and promote them, I don't have any. That weren't already listed in Renee's blog, so um... I've got nothing.

On that note I would like to take this opportunity to make a political statement during my acceptance speech.

Republican's who are holding middle class tax breaks hostage are idiots.

1. It's not new taxes, or a tax increase on the wealthiest two percent of American it is an end to an outrageously detrimental tax break set by the Bush league.

2. Trickle down economics does not work.

3. The people who are receiving these tax breaks are not the people who create "small business".

4. Paris Hilton has nothing to do with "small business", but I bet her trust fund creates so much interest that she is required to pay taxes on it. IE. her savings account creates more revenue than a "small business".

5. We are talking about take home pay not what revenues a business creates, those are separate tax laws.

6. Rich people have enough tax write off's that an increase in the base that they pay probably will not amount to much.

7. Rich people have accountants and tax lawyers whose jobs are to find ways to avoid paying taxes. How about instead of paying all that money to these people you pay your f***ing taxes and all of our Grandmothers who worked in factories while our Grandfathers were away at war to support our country can get their diabetes medication and pay their electric bill. Just a thought.

OK I'm done.

Oh except, "No new taxes on nobody", is neither good grammar or good economics.

What is guaranteed to you make you happy on a trip to Disneyland?

 Not backing down and paying off the media hungry woman who just realized that being an American means you can sue corporations for false persecution. She signed a contract which nullified her right to sue your company for not being in compliance with the dress code. If anything you can counter-sue this woman for damages to the Disney name.

Rob Reiner's an a-hole?

So I made the unfortunate mistake of scanning AM radio to try and find traffic information when 1070 let me down. I stumbled upon AM 640 and oh holy Jesus was it the wrong day to listen to that right wing republican bigotry. Tim Conway Jr.'s intelligence and incite into modern American politics and social policy.

Prop 8 was over turned today. Therefore the American people and their votes have just been attacked proving that the Federal government is trying to control our lives because nothing says that Gay marriage should exist.

His guest from the Alliance Defense Fund Doug something, frankly Tim slurred his name and I wasn't entirely sure what he said, his name may not even be Doug something, anyway the ADF guy decreed that marriage is ordained by god to be between a man and a woman and that studies have proven that what is best for the children is to raise them in a stable home with a mother and father. That to allow gay marriage is tantamount to signing away the rights of the child and setting them up for destruction.

First of all ADF is a Christian conservative right wing organization. The three areas listed on their home page is religious freedom, sanctity of human life and family values.

As far as I am concerned anyone can believe in anything they want, as long as they don't use their faith to persecute others ADF I'm talking to you, a woman has a right to choose, and your family is what you make it.

If the Ozzie and Harriet theory of family was so great then why are their serial killers and homosexuals now? No I am not saying that homosexuals are evil like serial killers, but these people tend to think that the "homosexual lifestyle" and its promotion by "the liberal media" are committing crimes against America, so I am going to take the analogy to the extreme.

Here is something for those right wingers to think about. You know your "ideal" family? It made all of the liberals and the homosexuals you are afraid of now. So suck on that.

This man literally said, "The government is responsible for implementing social policy, and to endorse gay marriage is to support something bad, not the good ideal family."

Tim Conway Jr. agreed with this man, but his first question was not really about Gay marriage but what his opinion of Rob Reiner was.

Rob Reiner said, "Everyone knows or is related to someone gay. That to look that person in the eye and tell them they do not deserve the same rights you would have to be a pretty cold hearted person."

Tim decided that Rob was calling all supporters of traditional marriage cold hearted, and then decreed that even though Rob is a family friend that he is an A-hole. He called him an A-hole about ten times before I stopped listening.

The next commercial break Tim did a promo for a debt consolidation law firm that would keep the "cold hearted" banks from harassing you. In the promo nearly every other sentence has a "cold hearted banks" plug in it.

Apparently Tim can call the banks cold hearted for trying to get back their money, but Rob Reiner is an A-hole for saying people who can look their "loved ones" in the eye and persecute them are cold hearted.

The next commercial break featured an auto painting company, where Tim made fun of his wife's driving saying that she runs into poles all the time so he loves this company because they fixed his car so well. The whole advertisement was riddled with misogynistic jabs at his wife ending with the declaration, "Deadbeats have dents in their car. I know first hand how hard it is to get women with a bad car."

Frankly Tim Conway Jr. is an ASSHOLE.

Huzzah for the internet that I can say ASSHOLE instead of A-hole.

Rob Reiner my heterosexual female fag hag hat is off to you. Tim Conway Jr. I hope you die in a fire while being harassed on your cell phone by one of those cold hearted banks for reneging on your debt to fix that dent in your car because you were so concerned about being able to get a woman while stepping out on your wife.

I'm a terrible American

So as I read this right wing slant on mandatory service proposals one line struck out at me and all I could think of was South Park and operation get behind the darkies.

This picture blanketed my mind and I could not let it go. The image of Sarah Palin strapped to the front of a tank like a ships mermaid as the Fox News Corp lined a dank and muddy World War II trench. Complaining of trench foot, and the horrible food they were subjected to by their MRE's.  Their mouths salivating as they thought of expensive caviar and foie gras as a nuclear warhead penetrates their consciousness Bill O'Reilly declares, "Well, guess I should have seen that one coming."

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with mandatory service, if it just means you hold a government job for two years. Frankly I've already done that. Most people probably have worked for the government at one time or another and may not have realized it. If you have ever been a summer camp counselor for a city park you have worked for the government. If you've ever been a poll worker for an election, you've worked for the government. I think the fear of going to war is the reason people are afraid of this notion, but the reality is if you have never worked in an industry how can you possibly understand it.

When I first started acting in Hollywood I put my hand in everything. I did PA work, I did wardrobe, I interned at an agency, did casting director workshops, assisted in casting session you name it I did it, because I needed to know all aspects of my industry in order to be successful in it.

People constantly complain about government and the way things are run without having any knowledge of bureaucracy.  The process is almost unbearable, it is slow and it is ridiculous. Everyone feels like they need to put their stamp on every little thing, to feel important and there are institutions within the institution to protect employees from retaliation, discrimination and themselves. The problem is that while honest hard working employees can benefit from these services there are just as many or more employees that utilize these systems to obtain job security and make it nearly impossible to fire them. When I worked for LA Parks and rec we had people who blatantly abused the system and it would take years to get rid of them. Policy is the same way, if not worse because their are lobbyists and special interests groups who will fight against or for policies that don't benefit them.

It seems to me that if more people worked for the government or at least had a summer internship they would understand what they were fighting for or against. It tends to be those who have no working knowledge of the system that are its biggest detractors, and those who I would classify as greedy, money hungry capitalists that tend to hate anything that resembles socialism or communism. The reality is that capitalism doesn't work, and communism doesn't work. Capitalism creates two distinct classes the haves and the have-nots, and the longer this system continues the broader the space between the two becomes. Communism on the other hand requires that the world is not populated with self-serving assholes, which any of VH1's reality programming will show you that is not the case.

Soap box, retired.

The Never Ending Struggle

The following is what happens when I get a broad topic for an essay exam:

The struggle for equality has been one marred by violence, economic and social strife. African Americans, women and immigrants have undergone similar road blocks on the road to equality they definitely did not take the same road. While women’s liberation and the Civil Rights Movement are the most well known societal campaigns the plight of the immigrant tends to shift from enemy to enemy depending on what war is on.

For the Great Depression era that war was on the economy. In 1929 the immigrants on the receiving end of the oppression stick was Mexicans. “The government effectively ended legal immigration from Mexico for the duration of the Depression to protect jobs for American citizens” (Keene, 672). By promoting a government program that included a government funded trip home coupled with deportation “approximately 415,000 Mexicans left the United States during the 1930’s” (Keene, 672). With almost a half million workers deleted from the workforce, New Deal programs and World War Two created industry, the United States successfully recovered from the fiscal fiasco known as the Great Depression.

In the earlier part of the 1920’s with the adoption of women’s suffrage came a new vision of the ideal woman in the Fisher girl. With new found political power women now had the opportunity to have their voices heard in Washington. Unfortunately most women tended to vote with their husbands rather than for issue traditionally associated with women. While the flappers were alive and well within the counter culture mainstream society adopted a new vision of the modern woman as the Fisher girl. Demanding a long and lanky physique the Fisher girl refocused women from their new found freedom and made them slaves to their diet. “According to a 1928 study, only 17 percent of American women were both slender and over 5 feet 3 inches tall” (Keene, 645). This new model of the perfect woman would later influence the feminist movement.

In addition to the new found body image Margaret Sanger began the fight for female reproductive rights. Sanger believed that “too many children… ruined women’s health and relegated them to the ranks of the poor” (Keene, 646). By opening the first American birth control clinic Sanger hoped to save women from unwanted pregnancies. Due to the 1873 Comstock Act which prohibited the distribution of pornography and information on contraception and birth control Sanger was arrested. Not willing to be silenced following her arrest Sanger appeared with a gag in protest of her government sanctioned silence. Throughout Sanger’s life she worked to change societal attitudes toward birth control.

As America moved into World War Two the bombing of Pearl Harbor put a new face on the dangerous immigrant, one of Japanese descent. While there had always been tension between Anglo Saxons and Japanese in California and the West Coast it was not until the United States entered the war that the racism became government sanctioned. Like the infringement upon women, deeming them second class citizens, the repatriation of Mexicans and the enslavement of the Africans before them, the Japanese were now second class citizens forced to give up the free way of life they had come to America for in exchange for internment camps. For those citizens who could not tell the difference between Japanese and Chinese immigrants Life magazine provided the answer in their article “How to Tell Japs from the Chinese”, Japs being a derogatory term for the Japanese (Keene, 893). While this national publication offered stereotypical instructions West Coast Japanese were sent into the internment camps with seven days to liquidate their assets. It was clear the national fear was now focused on the Japanese immigrant.

While the immigrants were being corralled away women found a boost in their level of freedom. The men were away at war and someone needed to fill the positions left at home. Many job opportunities not afforded to women in peace time became accessible during World War Two. But “as the war drew to a close” government propaganda urged women to resume “traditional roles as homemakers” (Keene, 697). Although women had to fight to maintain the freedoms allotted them during times of war they were not the only minority group to find temporary advancement.

While women attained levels of employment never before available to them initially many African Americans found themselves the victims of racial prejudice. Many “wartime industries refused to hire blacks” it was not until FDR was pressured by A. Phillip Randolph and the threat of a march on Washington that an executive order was signed “that forbade discrimination in the defense industry”, opening the employment door to African Americans (Keene, 699). Many civil rights activists wanted to use World War Two “to promote a ‘double-victory campaign’ against both the fascism overseas and racial prejudice at home”, hoping to create “an egalitarian and color-blind society”, however old habits die hard and every step forward was met with an iron fist hitting back (Keene, 699).

The separate but unequal policies that had allowed southern racism to legally continue through segregation had reached its limit by the 1950’s. In a post World War era, with the economy in full swing the Civil Rights Movement came to the forefront of American culture. The case Brown v. Board of Education deemed that segregated schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment, another step toward equality (Keene, 766). Not a year later the Emmett Till murder showcased another aspect of inequality as the evidence was overlooked by the jury and the white murders were acquitted then paid for an interview in which they confessed to the murder (Keene, 767). The frustration, disgust and rage at a failed system catalyzed a new generation of activists.

Where civil war had been the previous route to change the Civil Rights Movement adopted a policy of non-violence. Stemming from the churches the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SLCC) was created with their leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This organization provided a dogma as well as organizational skills to structure the movement. With the implementation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee or SNCC, the movement for the first time had the youthful exuberance of an energized educated student body with the grace and wisdom of experienced civic leaders. Images like those from Birmingham in 1963 only helped to elicit sympathy by showing the police officers as violent bullies and black students as their helpless victims (Keene, 822-823). This publicity nightmare helped bring attention to the Civil Rights Movement.

In the mid 1960’s female activists joined the women’s movement. Betty Friedan reinvigorated the failed women’s movement of the 1920’s with her treatise the Feminine Mystique, and founding the National Organization for Women or NOW (Keene, 834). It was NOW that “convinced President Johnson to issue an executive order that required government agencies and federal contractors to create affirmative action programs to hire and promote women and minority men”, focusing on advancement through legislation (Keene, 834). However as radical feminists took over, the movement seemed to be one only of white middle class women. “Few black women joined the women’s movement, convinced that racial oppression affected them more severely than sexual discrimination”, asserting that for the time being there were “bigger fish to fry” (Keene, 834).

With the loss of Dr. King the Civil Rights Movement lost momentum. In its wake campaigns for Mexican American and Native American social equality arose. The Mexican and Native American’s became the new targets for “factionalism and police harassment” (Keene, 837).As the Civil Rights Movement had Dr. King, Mexican immigrants had Cesar Chavez, the head of the United Farm Workers union. Chavez “used strikes and marches to secure better working and living conditions” and “appealed directly to consumers convincing seventeen million Americans to stop buying nonunion-picked grapes” to improve the quality of life for many Mexican immigrant farm workers (Keene, 838).

While Mexican Americans unionized Native Americans satirized. On November 20, 1969 Indian activists issued the Alcatraz Proclamation, which pointedly presented centuries of injustice that Native American’s had endured (Keene, 839). The Native American movement did not seek out equality or change through legislature and case law like the Civil Rights and women’s movements, or through boycotts like Montgomery Bus, SNCC and Chavez but with protests like Dr. King’s march on Washington. These elaborate and highly visible protests are what led Nixon “to increase funds for social services on Indian reservations and establish the Office of Indian Water Rights” (Keene, 839). It was through civil unrest that most campaigns for social justice found success.

As the debate raged on into the 1970’s women’s liberation seemed to be the only battle unwillingly to die. Gloria Steinem argued that women’s liberation was good for all Americans, while Phyllis Schlafly proclaimed the “Positive Woman” as the ideal by embracing her “distinctly female role” (Keene, 860). With these two opposing views that of progression versus traditionalism, gender roles and reproductive rights were at the foreground of the debate. “The Supreme Court dealt the feminist movement a stunning victory when it legalized abortion in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision” (Keene, 861). Although abortion and reproductive rights have been legal for nearly forty years the debate rages on.

While the Civil Rights Movement, women’s liberation or the rights of immigrants have many differences each of their success is still undetermined. Equality in America is a fight that seems to have no end, with every step forward we see another group arise as the disenfranchised minority. One need not look farther into history than November 8, 2008 to see this is true. On that night Americans chose a black president and on that night three hateful propositions were signed into law against homosexuals. As fear and ignorance led white supremacists to lynching fear and ignorance led the citizens of California to ban gay marriage. The struggles share the same heart but the battles have not been won until all citizens are treated equally under the law.

Review versus Critique

Reviews can be posted by anyone where as a critique requires someone to be an expert in the field in order to claim that title. That being said I hate reviewers. They tend to be long winded uninformed and claim to know what they are talking about. The common person can not tell the difference between a reviewer or a critic so as an artist your work is constantly subjected to scrutiny by laymen who are bored and do not have anything better to do than bitch about things they do not like, understand or are jealous of.

Recently a story I wrote last year has come under attack by one such reviewer. I normally would not respond to this type of criticism but it just seems to be a sign of the times. The reviewer is an 18 year old boy in Alabama who didn't like a story I wrote because he thought it was inappropriate and should never have been written. Granted the story is provocative and it is controversial but there is a huge difference between saying I don't like something and it does not deserve to exist. That I have somehow brought a perversion into the world.

Frankly I like the story, a lot of people seem to like the story. It's not perfect. It can use work I will be the first to admit that, but it was good enough to get published. The reality with art is that you are never done. You can always go back and change things if you choose to. The problem with that is if you never leave it alone and say it is good enough you will never produce anything.

I used the Twilight series as a symbol for bad writing. I used Stephenie Meyer as a character in the story without ever saying yes this is Stephenie Meyer, I named the character Stephenie and alluded to her with character traits and exposition. This became a horrible thing because I used an actual person in a fictional story. Oh dear God the world is coming to an end. The thing this reviewer did not pick up on that a critic may have is that the other character was Stephen King who was recreating a scene from Misery.

The well of ideas is only so deep. There are no original ideas. It is what you do with the idea your voice your take on it that makes the story your own and interesting and new. What is ironic is that the piece was about bad art and censorship. And so a piece about bad art and censorship has elicited a response from a reviewer that declares the piece bad art and demand its censorship.

Perhaps this reader got the concept more than he realized. To the point where it required him to subconsciously act out against the piece. Um... I guess it was a good story then.

Tea Bagging in America

OK, so I am going to be really really political right now. Tea baggers can suck it. I don't mean guys who put their nuts on your chin, I mean the Tea Party, the people who think that government is out of control and want lower taxes and small government.  The argument is never about the size of government the argument is about what type of government.

Now I don't like the idea of bailing out the banks and motor industry simply because I think it rewards failure. But I do realize that without the banks or the motor industry the economy would have collapsed. The harsh reality is that, particularly with the banks, we are in a recession made by private sector capitalist greed. Sadly I believe that it can all be traced back to the housing boom. People were buying homes for $500,000.00 and getting 80/20 loans. So with no money down, taking on two mortgages, people who were just so excited to be living the American dream of homeownership got in over their heads. Then the artificially high market value collapsed. Couple that with variable rate mortgages, and you are paying $5,000.00 a month in interest and maybe $1,000.00 on your principal balance. While the banks got richer without having to do any work, as long as people made their mortgage payments, anyone with this kind of a loan became impoverished. When the savings went, and they couldn't get another loan to cover the mortgage, or refinance, coupled with the fact that their $500,000.00 home's current market value is $350,000.00 or less, people started to short sale their homes. But with the influx of short sales came foreclosures. In the case of a short sale or a foreclosure the lending agent takes on a loss. This loss was of their own design by offering loans that no one could afford, by abandoning tried and true business and lending practices in order to make a quick buck. Those that got in while the getting was good made a lot of money and retired. Hopefully their retirement fund wasn't in the stock market.

As the banks took on more debt, they were afraid to lend out money, this directly effected small businesses who need short term loans to cover the cost of their overhead. If mom and pop borrow ten thousand dollars from the bank to buy products from big business to sell to next door neighbor, and the bank won't lend them the ten thousand dollars. Then mom and pop goes under, and big business losses another one of its clients. Trickle down economics doesn't really work, but in today's economy the shit rolls uphill. Hence the bank and motor company bailout.

America used to be the car manufacturers, mostly because Japanese and German car factories were bombed in world war two. With that being said, most people now have Japanese and German cars, some Japanese cars are made in America, but for the most part American cars do not represent the majority of the market. I myself drive a Honda Civic Hybrid, not because I consider myself to be a really green or socially conscious person but because I hate paying for gas and I am poor, so if I can save a hundred dollars on gas a month by having a hybrid, or use the carpool lane to cut my commute in half, I'm going to do that, because it just makes good fiscal sense. If time is money, spending an extra hour on the freeway is a waste of money. American automobiles were behind times. By not keeping up with the current market needs, they became a niche company, which cut into their profits and created the need for a government bailout.

I know I'm a terrible American because I keep my money in a Credit Union and drive a foreign made hybrid, but the fact of the matter is had I not had terrible experiences in domestic cars or with the banking industry, I would drive a Ford and be with Bank of America. But when your cars brake line gets confused and thinks you are applying the brake when the car is off, thus leaking brake fluid which can lead to spontaneous combustion, or you transfer a thousand dollars out of my bank account to some woman in South Dakota via my online banking, that I never registered for without so much as a phone call or letter to see if I had registered for this service, does not instill faith in an institution.

Washington did what they thought was necessary to keep us going. Whether or not you agree with it, the bailouts happened so the real question is what's next?

Health care needs reform as much as the banks do. Insurance companies and drug companies charge exorbitant amounts of money for their goods and services. If the cost was universal to all people then it would not be an issue. I myself have an autoimmune disease. All I need is a hormone supplement everyday. A little pill that keeps me going. That pill with insurance cost between five and ten dollars a month. Without insurance that pill costs me fifteen. Again, pragmatic Lauren, not having insurance costs me nothing. Having insurance would cost me $600.00 a month. As I am a student and a freelancer for all intensive purposes and cannot get employee funded health care. The cost does not outweigh the benefit. Since I am going to school if anything happens I can go to the student health center which is either free or $25.00. Again pragmatism, $25.00 when I need it is a much better option for someone like me, than $600.00 a month just in case.

Tea Baggers are worried about socialism. About government being too big. One of their chants is "gather your armies." Well who do you think pays for the armies? They don't want universal health care because they don't see the need or the benefit, or the cost of the uninsured who run out on their bills. But if we took away life guards, police officers, park rangers, animal control, fire men, city and state parks, Holiday parades, escorts for funeral processions, prisons, prison guards, oh wait they've already privatized prisons at the governments expense, mental health facilities or education, I think they would find something new to complain about.

Everyone has an agenda, and their own set of ideals that need to be met, most are selfish. Tea baggers are just pissed off and want their America back. The problem arises in the definition of America, if you grew up in Tallahassee or in Compton, you would have a very different view on what it means to be an American let alone live in America. Subjective realities trying to dictate for the masses is not the way to run a country as diverse as America.

Religion as Control

All religions exist as a form of social control. It is with the faiths they hold in an Authoritative all powerful being that keeps the minions in line.

Religion is a business just like any other. They require people to buy their product, and what religion sells is the afterlife.

Religion and government are closely tied, particularly in the case of Monarchies.

The Queen of England is appointed by divine right. She is the leader of the people. She is the modern day British Jesus.

Does that make her a holy person?

Not really, but we are supposed to believe that she was ordained by God to her post. Without that belief we can get rid of her with little consequences.

It is the fear and intimidation of possible consequences that allow religion, law and governments to keep their practitioners/citizens in order.

Furthermore, the religions need people to donate or give money to them in order to maintain their institutions. Without land and money they would have no where to preach from.

All religions strive to make their practitioners better happier people, or at least promise that their lives in the here and after will be better by becoming devotees to God and their faith.

Without concrete evidence of an afterlife people buy into this theological snake oil.

Everyone wants to be happy, and lead a good life, but what defines a happy and good life varies from person to person, and religion generally does not fulfill all the needs of the individual and most of the time becomes a trap, creating too many boundaries for a person to fully develop their own independent sense of self.

Philosophy Arguments for a Supreme Being

As a pagan with an atheist boyfriend I can accept these arguments as justifications for the existence of a supreme being. However I don't buy the rhetoric. I personally believe that there is something bigger than myself and that for every trial we endure there is a lesson to be learned. My boyfriend on the other hand believes we are worm meat, I love him anyway.

The counter argument I always find most enticing is the same for God as the Big Bang theory. All right I can buy that a bang happened and then life formed, but where did the initial source material develop from? That goes for God as well as matter.

We cannot create matter from nothing, or energy from nothing, there is a fixed amount of usable material in the world, and through photosynthesis, and metabolic or chemical reactions we can change the form but there it has to start with raw materials that are transformed. 

You can't reach into the sky and say I want there to be silly putty, and a glob appears in your hand like magic. 

Now you can reach into the sky and say I want there to be silly putty, and your friend uses kinetic energy to throw a glob of silly putty into your hand. A glob that was sold in a store, made by a manufacturer, after all of the raw materials were gathered together and a scientist trying to make a new rubber invented silly putty. 

The same goes for God. Where did he come from? 

And if the answer is well, he's God he just appeared, I don't buy it. Just as scientists who cannot explain the original source of the first particles that existed before the big bang cannot explain it, yet. 

It's the yet that makes the arguments invalid for me. The minute we have concrete evidence of anything then you can make an informed decision. Scientists have proofs and theories that they test out and either prove real or false. 

Believers don't have that, in fact most of the scary fanatical believers reasoning is that I know because I have faith. They have no need for philosophical debates because they are unwilling to see any possible alternatives. 

In their minds those without faith are lacking, and frankly in my quarter century of cognoscente thought on this planet I have found that those with faith in themselves tend to succeed and achieve their goals and ultimate happiness more so than those who have blind faith that a higher power will take care of them. These are the people who get 80/20 variable rate mortgages. This lack of personal responsibility I find to be a plague on our generation, and I think a lot of people use God as an excuse for bad behavior. Where as government has used the fear of God to keep people in line.

Perdition and the One

A personal essay I wrote for my Journalism class last semester.

Dating can be a very dangerous and eye opening experience.  While every relationship is different, most people can go back, look at their failed relationships and see a very distinct pattern.  For me the pattern was tall, thin, effeminate white men, who were primarily insecure actors or just insecure.  Each of these men had commitment issues and for one reason or another I did not actually like them, for either a physical attribute or mental one, usually mental.  My last relationship was this on again off again cycle of hell with a man I found to be dumb and not funny.

So in an attempt to reboot my system I decide to stop dating for a year, to just focus on rebuilding the old engine, wiping the hard drive clean and starting over.  Of course the first man I went out with after this cleansing period turned out to be exactly like my ex.  Still hung up on a girl he had broken up with long ago that wanted nothing to do with him.  He thought I was great but couldn’t get her out of his head, obviously not the one. 

I decided to embark on a social experiment.  Stop dating my physical type in an attempt to break this pattern of un-healthy relationships.  From that moment on, I vowed to stay away from tall, thin, effeminate, insecure white men.

First I dated a short Jewish republican economist who audited credit unions.  Since I am a liberal, hybrid driving, democrat, with a gay husband, needless to say, that did not work out.  Then I started dating a friend of mine I’d known for years, who was nerdy and awkward but had been raised in Europe so I thought maybe he would have a more worldly view, the more worldly view was one of non-commitment, next.  Then, I went out with this guy, who thought he was the hottest thing on the planet, and told me on our first date that he was a swinger and invited me to a swing party the next night.  Um… run away, next.  Which lead me to the five-foot-ten, three hundred pound ESPN production assistant and a first and last date that I will never forget.

Out of my peripheral vision I see a tuft of dirty blonde hair instinctively I know it is my friend James.  I turn around, running up the down escalator; sweat bubbling up on my lower back; my white button down flapping against me, fanning away the moisture as I screamed, “James”.  My scream breaks the sacred silence of the Marina Barnes and Noble.  All eyes turn to me.  My ballet slippers dig into the grooved metal as I reach the top.

Embracing my friend I look back to find that my date did not follow me.  James whispers in my ear, “So… Good date, huh?”

I lean over the railing trying to locate my lost date, wishing that we hadn’t bought tickets for the movie already.  I could have asked James to take me home, but alas I’m stuck.  I pull my phone out of my pocket and call my date.  I tell him my location and he steps onto the escalator coming back up to the top level of the bookstore. 

James’ jaw drops.  He smacks me on the arm.  “That’s your date?” 

I look at him, my eyes narrow I can feel the blood rushing to my face as the lumbering boxy man in the short sleeve blue button down, with the dark blue argyle sweater vest over dark blue jeans topped with a multicolored blue page boy hat arrives at the top of the escalator.

I turn back to my “friend” James and tell him, “I’m dating out of my type.”  This sad creature shyly walks up to us, a poor imitation of a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy contestant, he just looks queer.  This image could only be worse if he smelled of Dakar Noir, instead of the garlic and onion from dinner.

I fantasize about going home with James but decide to be a good date and stick it out with the weirdo.  We go to the movie where he tries to put his hand on my thigh.  I push it away.  Fifteen minutes later he tries again.  I push him away.  Fifteen minutes later another attempt.  His hand is closer to my knee than my no-no place so I allow it, the movie should be over soon.  An hour later, the film finally ends.  We walk to his car and he drives me home.

I thank God for Long Beach’s impacted neighborhoods, there’s no parking, and no awkward kiss goodnight moment at the door.  I do the polite thing, the side hug in the car from the passenger’s seat.  I feel his face turn on approach.  I dodge, met by open moist lips and a tongue that probes my cheek.  I get through the gate and receive a text message from him, saying how beautiful I am asking me out again.

My brain vomits.  I do not respond.  I walk up the stairs, log into my online dating account and search for the next love of my life.  Obviously it is not the awkward, forward, insecure man I’ve just had dinner and a movie with.

A week later, after thirty unanswered text messages he finds me online.  I am talking to a new man, Travis, who is not my type, a twenty-eight year old five-foot-three ninety pound video game designer, with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita.  ESPN, the awkward boy wonder, starts sending me instant messages, asking why I won’t go out with him again.  Typing, “I knew I shouldn’t have worn that hat.”  Insisting his poor judgment in accessories was to blame.

Yes of course it was the hat.  It had absolutely nothing to do with what was under the hat.

The ESPN hat guy spends the next hour asking me what he needs to do to attract women, and complaining about how hard it is to be single and not be able to read the signs.  Travis and I laugh about this overzealous man, as we talk about Milton, Shakespeare and Donne.  I ask him if we can talk on the phone so the ESPN hat guy will leave me alone.  We exchange phone numbers and end up talking until 7AM.  I was his from that moment on.

Had the ESPN wonder boy calmed down, took his time to get to know me, and just been confident and secure in who he is, maybe things would be different between us.  Luckily, by stumbling through this awkward date and having him virtually stalk me, I fell for Travis who is nothing like what I thought I wanted and yet somehow is everything I need.

Dating is the most asinine and annoying process but without having gone out with a myriad of losers, freaks and a-holes I never would have met my perfect, pocket sized for my pleasure, brilliant, handicapped boyfriend, who prefers to be called a gimp or a cripple.  Secure, confident and self-aware this beautiful man won me over with his sense of humor.  Who else would take a hapa girl to a sushi restaurant on their first date while wearing a t-shirt with the international handicap symbol that reads, “I’m just in it for the parking,” a man worthy of my nerdy love, that’s who. 

I found my way home to a man that I would still love, even if he wore a bad hat.

The Lost Weekend

Sometimes you feel like doing absolutely nothing.  So much so that you completely forget what you did the day before.  I know I did not drink or imbibe any form of drug.  So why is it so hard to remember what I did yesterday.  I'm pretty sure I didn't leave the house.  That there was some extra sleepy time, followed by some reading and homework.  Possibly an online test.  Zelda on the wii.  Both Travis and I played.  A movie, The Quick and the Dead, then sleep.  But somehow that doesn't seem possible.  It doesn't seem like a days worth of activities.

Now I'm sitting on the couch at 630pm on Sunday wondering what happened to Saturday, and how did it get to be so late already?  By this time next weekend I will have driven to San Francisco, stayed at my cousin's house.  Gone to a family picnic and started the drive back to Southern California.  It seems surreal to have accomplished nothing in the same span of time as travelling back and forth across the state.

But that's what I've done.  I've been lazy.  I've gotten most of the work I needed to get done this weekend done.  But all the prep for the future stuff has been postponed.  I am too sleepy and silly to attempt to organize the mess.  Or pay bills.  Or try and figure out what is going on with the rest of my life.  With that being said, there is something to being lazy.  It feels amazing.

Every once in awhile you need to have a lost weekend.  Apparently this was one for me.  It's been awhile since I've visited this place, and as long as I don't make a habit of it, a lost weekend in your own home can be a great vacation.

Procrastination

While I am very fond of procrastination I have found that it is really not that effective when you have a novel to finish writing, a novel to finish reading and a manuscript to read for critique, as well as a manuscript to get ready for critique all in the same weekend.  Particularly when your boyfriend is playing Zelda, and it makes you want to join in the fun instead of strapping on a sports bra and going down to the gym so you can multi-task working out and reading in a feeble attempt to be productive.  Well wish me luck on my reading adventure.  This is my boring blog for the day, nothing political, exciting or heart felt, just procrastinatey.  We can't win em' all.