IT'S SCIENCE!

As much as I hate to rant unprovoked against religion, I saw a fake Facebook status from Galileo that made me feel like doing so. For those who don't know, I used to identify as an Atheist, but as of late have begun to identify as a Naturalist. Naturalism is "The view that all phenomena can be explained in terms of natural causes and laws (Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?)." Basically, it is what some people may think atheism is, but defined in what their views are, rather than what they are not.
One of the things that people tell me should drive me to religion is "faith." They say that I should have faith in something that I have no evidence for. My thought is that if there were a higher power, wouldn't it be pleased more by somebody that has the mental prowess to think for himself, rather than blindly follow those in power? If I were a robotics engineer, I would feel more accomplished if I had created artificial intelligence more than if I had created a robot that follows a set program.
Also, there are people that argue against evolution because they say it is only a "theory." This argument shows me that they truly do not understand basic science. They think that the words "theory" and "hypothesis" can be used interchangeably. A hypothesis is a possible explanation for a phenomena that does not yet have empirical evidence to support it. On the other hand, a theory does have empirical evidence, and is widely accepted as truth. The difference between the way scientists think and the way outsiders believe scientists think is that scientists can never prove something. Scientists can only disprove things. Scientists can only offer up empirical evidence in order to support a theory. This is why evolution will always be called a theory.
Evolution is probably the scientific theory that divides this country the most, even though the evidence is staring us all in the face. We domesticated dogs from wolves thousands of years ago, we caused MRSA to evolve from Staphylococcus within the last century, I myself have seen small scale evolution in the lab, but yet as recent as 2009, 60% of Americans still do not believe in evolution. They point to gaps in the fossil record, but yet beg for all to have faith in an invisible man up in the sky. They point to all of the mistakes that have been made by scientists as a reason to doubt their work.
Today is a perfect idea to point out why that last argument holds no weight. Five years ago today, the IAU realized that they had made a mistake in the classification of Pluto as a planet, and changed their stance. They accepted that they had been wrong, and pointed out their mistake. Science is always correcting itself when new evidence comes to light. While some people use this as a way to discredit controversial theories, many realize that this actually gives them more credibility. Which is why I do give the Catholic Church some credibility when they came out 5 years ago and said that intelligent design is a fallacy. They at least showed some intelligence when they did that. Even if nobody that attends Catholic services heard about it. Religion has a history of killing all those that go against their beliefs: Pagans, Galileo, et al. So why should we believe that they are right over a group that will do the proper research when presented with an opposing opinion?

Can you take a joke?

Americans are hypocrites. It has never been more obvious than right now. For those who have not heard, Tracy Morgan recently said at one of his shows that his son "better talk to me like a man and not in a gay voice or I'll pull out a knife and stab that little n**ger to death." While I agree that is a bad thing to say, he is a professional comedian! His job is to say ridiculous things in order to be funny. Nobody knows if the Tracy Morgan that we see on stage is even his own personality. He is so outrageous, that I wouldn't be surprised if it is just a character. He could be the same as Larry the Cable Guy, who is a caricature of people from the South and Midwest. It's no different than the offensive things that "Stephen Colbert" says 4 nights a week on national television. There are a few major problems in this story. The first is that there is no tape of this show, and there are many reports that he is misquoted out of context. How do we know exactly what he said? A single person is the one reporting this. The CNN story even says that he "reportedly" said these things because there is no proof. Although we can probably figure it out, as I have heard that he has said almost the exact same joke before on his HBO special. Why didn't anybody have a problem with it then?
Also, why is he being the one singled out for what he said? What about Jo Koy? A man in the audience at his show, only a week after the Tracy Morgan incident, pointed out that his zipper was down, to which he responded "Why are you looking, faggot?" When word got out, he was immediately fired from the Chelsea Handler TV show that is in development. How many people know about that story though? How many people still remember/care about what Kobe Bryant said? Nobody in the media called for him to be fired, even though that is much worse than what either of the other two said. Tracy Morgan and Jo Koy made their remarks in a stand-up comedy show, where they are expected to be offensive, and knew that more than one person was watching. Kobe Bryant said it to demean a person, and thought nobody would see. I think that is much worse and uncalled for. Especially when you look at all three of their apologies. While Koy and Morgan apologized almost immediately, Bryant refused to give an apology, which shows that he found nothing wrong with what he said.
By now you may be wondering what all of this has to do with American hypocrisy. While people were up in arms over Koy's and Morgan's comments, New York Democrats were struggling to pass a bill to legalize same sex marriage. In a country where we have to struggle to give equal rights to people of all sexual orientations, why are we surprised that comedians make "homophobic" jokes? Conservative politicians are much more homophobic than those two. I am fairly certain that Tracy Morgan would not actually stab his son if he was gay. However, if one of Sarah Palin's children was gay, she would instantly disown them, and there would be no chance of her being president. As a bisexual, I am much more offended by the people that say that homosexuality is morally wrong, than I am by Koy's and Morgan's jokes.
So until all members of the LGBTQ community get the same rights as heterosexuals, Americans can't be surprised and enraged by things that comedians say, because they merely are pointing out how terrible it is to not give them these rights.

TSA Baby

Not sure who all saw this story, but this week there was outrage as a TSA agent searched a baby's diaper in Kansas City. The reason given was that the baby's stroller tested positive for an explosive substance. So why is there a problem? Sure, the TSA can cross the line at times, but this was not one of those instances. I would be more outraged if they hadn't checked to be safe. It was almost a year and a half ago that the "underwear bomber" incident happened. It is obviously plausible that terrorists would stoop that low to accomplish their goal. We can't just say that there is no way that a baby could have explosives in their diaper. Imagine the outrage if someone had brought explosives on a plane in a baby's diaper. For once we actually may have prevented a new type of attack. We are one step ahead of terrorists now, for the first time that I can remember.

Osama

Hot off the presses! Osama Bin Laden is dead!
We killed an innocent man. That's right, innocent. "Innocent until proven guilty" has been the basis of our government since its inception. So, technically, by that, Osama was an innocent man. We sought out and killed him. We did not try to detain him. The intent was to kill him. Does that not make us as bad as him? Had we tried to capture him, he tried to shoot at our soldiers, and then they killed him, then there would have been no problem as it would have been considered self defense. This is no different than police going in and killing a mass murder unprovoked. Hell, we even gave Saddam Hussein a trial!
The description of what happens just doesn't seem right. There was a firefight, but no Americans were hurt. Who are we fighting, Storm Troopers? How do guys who are protecting the most wanted man in the world such terrible shots?
Just heard someone on CNN saying that this ends the war on terror. So either one of two things needs to happen: either we pull out every single troop out of every other country, or he needs to shut the hell up. Al-Qaeda is not the only terrorist organization in the world. And even if they were, Hitler's death didn't get rid of every Nazi in the world did it? We are probably at more risk now than ever.
The true winners in all this: the Westboro Baptist Church. Americans have become enraged with them protesting funerals of soldiers. The reason they protest is because they believe that these soldiers are rebels in God's eyes. Now, we as a nation are celebrating the death of a rebel. How are we any better than them?

Money

The NFL Draft is in full swing, and we now know that there will probably be a full season now that the lockout is over. For some reason though, everyone wanted to place the blame on the players. However, the owners wanted to pay the players less, while increasing their own cut of the profit. Let's think about something: one group puts their lives on the line in almost any weather, while the other sits up in a climate-controlled booth while this happens. Who deserves more money? People need to think about it in terms of their own job. If their boss tried to pull that over on them, there's no way they would stand for it!
Another company that makes way too much money is Occidental Petroleum. This past year, their profits increased 46%, to $1.55 billion, a company record. The reason? Increases prices. Gas prices are insanely high because of the turmoil in the Middle East. That should mean that their costs and prices should increase fairly similarly and profit should remain fairly steady. There obviously is some disconnect there.
But that is our country: we are moving into the hands of big business. Yet somehow both parties still claim to be out for the common citizen. One party supports unionizing to maintain workers' rights, while the other wants to ban unions in government workplaces. If we all were really out for the common citizen, we wouldn't be trying to get rid of unions. And we definitely wouldn't be allowing big businesses to exploit loopholes in tax laws so they pay less taxes than individual people do. Our government gives more money in tax returns than it receives in taxes. But yet, some people want to still lower taxes. Lowering taxes decreases the amount of money that our government has. Yet people wonder why we are so far in debt as a nation. Maybe instead of lowering taxes, we should lower our spending. And instead of cutting something as small as Planned Parenthood, maybe we should start cutting back on our defense budget. The largest air force in the world is the United States Air Force. The second largest air force is a part of the U.S. Navy. It seems like we have room to cut.
As if all this wasn't bad enough, now big business is attempting to get into the White House. Donald Trump has a realistic shot of being the Republican presidential candidate in 2012. Why does he deserve a realistic chance? He has no past experience in politics. Look at California and what happened when a celebrity decided to run for office. He's banking on being a recognizable name, and having business success. People are going to vote for him because they think of all of his successful businesses, but what about his unsuccessful businesses? He had multiple businesses go bankrupt. How does a casino go bankrupt?! How is he supposed to handle running an entire country? Looks like it's time for me to get my dual citizenship just to be safe!

SEX!

Now that I have your attention.
Listening to the news lately, which is a big mistake, I've heard some interesting facts about pregnancy. The main one is that there are 400,000 teen pregnancies each year. If only there were some way to prevent pregnancy while having sex! Although that is obviously a joke, it is sadly what many teenagers learn in school, to not have sex. It's obvious that abstinence only sex education does not work. Teens are having sex, obviously, so why do we still teach abstinence only? Sure, the number of teen pregnancies is decreasing, but it is still 9 times higher than other first world countries. If we actually taught all high school students about birth control, this number would be much lower. Instead of getting rid of Planned Parenthood we should support it. They work to prevent unwanted pregnancies. They aren't just an abortion clinic like some people like to think, but they are too set in their hatred to look at this fact.
But that is the way it is in our society, sex doesn't exist! We can't talk about it in the media. We can't even say the word uterus in state senate. Other countries don't have a problem discussing sex. The BBC even shows simulated sex on some programs. So why are we so censored? The movie Clerks was originally an NC-17 rating for language. If you haven't seen the movie, there is no nudity, no actual sex, and no violence in the movie. However, movies with violence and gore that make many people sicken are given an R rating no problem. Just this month, Rolling Stone showed a real severed head in its pages, while it blurred out a FAKE penis that Nicki Minaj was wearing in a harness in the same issue. Why are the priorities so backward?
Speaking of the media, why are homosexual men mainly portrayed as stereotypes in TV shows and movies? These characters highlight the comedic differences between those of various sexual orientation, like those in Glee and Modern Family. In reality, these differences are not as blatant. I feel bad for saying this so much, but we could really learn something from the UK. Once again, on BBC there is a show, Torchwood, that handles it well. The main character, Captain Jack Harkness, is omnisexual, but with the exception of having romantic and sexual relationships with men, women, and aliens, he does not fulfill the "usual" stereotype.

On a completely unrelated note: For fellow Pastafarians, we are in the middle of Pastover. I hope you all have been touched by His noodly appendage. RAmen.

Words, Words, Words

Over the last couple weeks I've been thinking about the power of words in our society. The first amendment to our Constitution includes the protection of freedom of speech, but each person is all over the board on this. Most people in this country, whether they like to admit it or not, would like there to be some sort of limit on free speech.
One of the major things people want to limit is the use of slurs. I agree that the "n-word" should be wiped from our current vocabulary. It was a word created centuries ago solely to demean an entire race of people in this country, who were already being enslaved and/or killed. However, that does not mean that we should take it out of books written during this time period. The reason Tom Sawyer used this word in his writing was not to demean African-American slaves, but rather to demonstrate the horrible times in which he was living.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, however, is the word "retard." The word was originally used to mean "to hold back." Then, in the late 19th century it was used as an umbrella term for anyone who suffers from one of any developmental disabilities. Now, there are a number of people trying to get rid of the "r-word" as they say, comparing to the "n-word." That's where I believe they are blowing things out of proportion. "Retard" was not created as a word to put down any person. However, if people really want to get rid of it, then let's do it. And then, start using the words that were originally used: idiot, moron, and imbecile. Those are words that were created to demean a large group of people, but are no longer used because "retarded" is not as politically incorrect. And even if we do stop using "retarded," where do we go from there? Mentally handicapped? Isn't there a group trying to get rid of the word "handicapped" as well?
Then somewhere in the middle, we have the LGBT community. I will preface this by saying I completely support equal rights for everybody, and right now the main group that is not given these equal rights are the LGBT community. And I agree that the "f-word" should not be used as it is, because it has been used in so many hate crimes. However, I was recently scolded for defining genetic sex as a binary term. I agree that gender is a social construct and should be treated as a continuum, but sex is mainly binary. However, it is a very loose binary system. Sure it is possible for any variety of intersex individuals, but there is also a possibility for polydactyly in humans as well. Yet, we still classify the number of fingers and toes per limb as 5. So until we change our classification for this number, I stand strong in my binary definition of sex.
Then there is the straw that broke the camel's back. Apparently overnight, a girl supposedly attending UCLA posted a video blog on Youtube about the "Asians in the Library" who are always talking on their phone, saying "ching chong ling long ting tong." While I agree that this is reprehensible, I'm really not that surprised. I saw a video response in which a guy summed up my thoughts exactly. We sweep our discrimination under the rug for all but 2 groups: LGBT community and Muslims. However, there are public figures that still buy into discrimination. Unfortunately for many rational conservatives, a large majority of them happen to be conservatives. One major event on the scale of this event was Rush Limbaugh speaking about Hu Jintao's speech in America in January, and trying to replicate his speech in gibberish that he said was Chinese. Even before that, though, there was a huge outrage when it was thought that then presidential candidate Obama was Muslim. So what if he is? Even if he is Muslim, that does not make him a terrorist just because there are Muslim extremists in the world. These extremists are not much different than the Westboro Baptist Church. We don't associate all Christian faiths with the WBC, so why do we associate all Muslims with the extremists that launch terror attacks? So why are so many people surprised that this girl thought it was okay to say what she did?
Stop it, America!

Showbiz

Charlie Sheen. I think that is enough by now. We all know that he is a punchline and we can just move on with our lives and not waste our breaths on this idiot.
Speaking of stupidity in Hollywood, Kobe Bryant last week was immortalized at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. I totally support their decision to do this based on Kobe's great film career... wait that's not right. As Jimmy Kimmel said, "The closest Kobe's come to acting is pretending he's going to pass the ball to Luke Walton." In other news, famous film director Kevin Smith will be inducted into the basketball hall of fame this summer. Sure that might be sarcastic, but if Kobe is given undeserving honors, why not spread the wealth. Grauman's is supposed to be a place to celebrate the history of film. Not a place to thank rapists who were coerced to stay in the city of Los Angeles (allegedly).
Last night, the roster for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars was announced. I'm usually not interested in this show unless somebody I like is on it (like Chuck Liddell or Steve-O in the past). The one problem people have had in the past with the show is that there is always a "nobody" that they say doesn't fit in or deserve to be on the show. This year the one person that is considered to be the "nobody" is Michael "Psycho Mike" Catherwood. However, I hate to burst their bubbles, but he is just as famous as most people that have been on the show before. Just a sampling on the "professions" of previous and current contestants: wife of Elvis Presley, Broadway actress, charity campaigner/ex-wife of a Beatle, voice actor, reality TV star, etc. So classifying a man who is the host of a nationally syndicated radio show, assistant producer of a nationally recognized radio show, and occasional TV host as a star is not so far-fetched. Let's take a look at the rest of the cast: Kendra Wilkinson, who is famous for being the girlfriend of Hugh Hefner and wife of a journeyman NFL player; Kirstie Alley, who was famous for being in Cheers in the late 80s; Chris Jericho, a professional "wrestler"; Chelsea Kane, an actress on the Disney Channel; Sugar Ray Leonard, one of the greatest boxers in history, whose last match was in '97; Ralph Macchio, who played the original Karate Kid in '84; Petra Nemcova, a model whose claim to fame is her husband's tragic death; Romeo, who got his career because of his dad; Hines Ward, an NFL player; and Wendy Williams, a BET talk show host. I guess they are right, he doesn't fit in with these HUGE stars.
And once again, I will finish with Americans ignoring great things from another country. I recently started watching the reboot of Doctor Who. For those who don't know, Doctor Who is a British sci-fi show that was started in 1963 and was rebooted in 2005. It is considered to be one of the greatest shows in British history. However, in America, it is deemed "nerdy" to watch it. Why? Just a few years ago, Lost was one of the biggest shows on TV, even though it was a confusing sci-fi show. On the other hand, even though Doctor Who is sci-fi show, it is still fairly easy to understand on multiple levels. Sure there are the huge Doctor Geeks who know the entire timeline, but it can also be enjoyed by the layperson. So much so that in 2008 9 out of 10 British children could correctly identify a Dalek (an alien species in the Whoniverse). While in America our children can recognize Ronald McDonald. Even the Queen is a huge fan of the show. So if watching Doctor Who is a "nerdy" thing, then the entire United Kingdom must be nerdy.
Stop it America!

South Dakota

When did it become our MO to make stupid laws because we don't agree with other laws? Over the past 24 hours I have seen two separate articles detailing two separate bills that are currently on the docket in South Dakota. Although, honestly, you could mistake it for Texas in this instance.
First, state representatives have proposed a bill that would make it mandatory for all residents over the age of 21 to purchase firearms. The reason they are doing this is to prove that the federal government cannot make it mandatory for citizens to purchase health insurance. However, they do not have any problem with auto insurance being compulsory. So they don't have a problem with the premise of the law as much as they have a problem with who is passing the law. If they are really against socialism, then they should not have access to any socialized services in our society. When they retire, they can't collect social security. Then, if they go bankrupt, they should not be able to access welfare, Medicare, or Medicaid. If they are the victim of a crime, or if their property were to catch on fire, they cannot call the police or fire departments. Their children cannot go to public school and cannot check out books from the public library. And finally, they have to sit in their house all day, because they will be unable to use roads and highways. Politicians need to realize that free market and communism are not binary definitions. It is a continuum, and we just happen to be on the free market side of said continuum. Also, the health care reform bill isn't even socialized health care. We still have to pay for health insurance. Only a portion will be subsidized for people who need it.
To summarize my view of their thought process: why should we try to get people to buy health insurance to help them survive? Instead, let's make everyone get an implement to kill people with whom they disagree.
Speaking of which, some South Dakota lawmakers are trying to pass a bill to make it justifiable to murder abortion doctors. The exact language of the law is: "Homicide is justifiable if committed by any person while resisting any attempt to murder such person, or to harm the unborn child of such person in a manner and to a degree likely to result in the death of the unborn child, or to commit any felony upon him or her, or upon or in any dwelling house in which such person is." To me, it seems as though it was specifically worded to be misleading. They wanted people to think that it supposed to allow for self-defense. The terrible wording aside, this is possibly one of the worst bills ever to be taken seriously in America. Abortion has been ruled legal by the Supreme Court before. So why should doctors who perform a legal medical service be grouped together with murderers and felons? Especially a few weeks after a member of congress was almost assassinated because of her beliefs. The beliefs of Voltaire, one of the catalysts of modern democracy, can be summed up as this: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." What happened to the days of democracy when this was still held true? Now, if somebody doesn't agree with another person, they try to kill them.
One argument against the health care reform is that it will put doctors out of jobs. Isn't one of the leading causes of unemployment death? So why should we decrease the number of doctors in this country?
Stop it America!

Valentime's Day

This weekend marked one of the worst awards shows, the Grammys. For 53 years, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences have given away awards to the "best" "musicians" of the preceding year. I use those two words very liberally in this sense. Just to give a reference point, Mick Jagger, the lead singer of what some people could argue is one of the greatest rock bands, just performed at the Grammys for the first time. 39 years after the Rolling Stones formed. Lady Gaga has performed more times than Mick Jagger. Speaking of Lady Gaga, she is probably one of the most overrated performers at this point in time. The only reason she is famous is her shock value. The only thing that separates her from, say, Marilyn Manson, is that she is more socially accepted. So when people say that she got screwed for album of the year because nobody knows who Arcade Fire are is idiotic. This sadly represents what is wrong with the music industry. Good musicians get pushed to the side, while people who make pop music become more famous and get more recognition. What's worse, the bane of the music industry, is Justin Bieber. Millions of little girls are going to raise hell because he didn't win best new artist over Esperanza Spalding. Sadly, there are adults that agree. Unlike Justin Bieber she is a talented musician. She obviously has to be if she is winning a mainstream Grammy despite being a jazz musician.
Today is Valentine's Day, one of the most pointless days of the year. If you have to wait for a special day once a year to show your admiration for your significant other, there is something wrong with your relationship. Like many holidays in America, it is only a way for companies to make money off of people.
Speaking of things that are wrong with America, why do Americans only like sports that we create? One of the greatest annual sports events is happening this month, the RBS 6 Nations tournaments. However, because most Americans are too stupid/lazy/self-centered to learn about rugby, we get to watch one game a week. It doesn't even get coverage on ESPN, while poker and bowling both get time. Even worse, next summer marks the beginning of the Rugby World Cup, and I'm willing to bet that the only time it will get time on TV in America is whatever games BBC televises.
Stop it America!