Maybe tomorrow I’ll pull the fire alarm for no reason.
August 2012
21 posts
Today
I might have just hyperventilated at dropping a small fortune on a new catalytic converter, spark plugs, oil change, and four new, *correctly-sized*, all-season tires, but hot damn did it make the Jeep a much smoother, quieter ride. :)
Earlier today: Bike ride with the dog.
Currently: Making chicken stock with the remains of Thursday’s chicken de-boning adventure and today’s Farmers Market haul.
Later: Dinner and The Bourne Ultimatum with the boy. Also cookies.
“
Be soft.
Do not let the world make you hard.
Do not let pain make you hate.
Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.
Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.
” —Kurt Vonnegut
On Todd Akin →
latimes.com
Todd Akin “misspoke”. I want to believe that; I really do. But I can’t. Because I know there are people that actually believe that when a woman is “legitimately” raped, she can’t get pregnant, because of a magical defense mechanism that, quite frankly, I’m surprised hasn’t been researched more so that it can be removed (legitimately), since it prevents the miracle of life.
I wonder if Todd Akin “misspoke” when he co-sponsored a bill to redefine the meaning of “rape” to include the modifier “forcible”.
So, no. I don’t buy into Todd Akin’s desperate attempt to cover up his backwards, dangerous opinions, by making up some bullshit pseudo-apology for his comments earlier. Especially since he didn’t “misspeak”. This wasn’t an “Oops! That came out wrong” statement. He wrote down words, read them over, and posted them on the internet.
And there are people who still support him. Gross.
Work Conversations
- Andrea: Sarah, you'll know this. How's that 'Simple Simon' poem go?
- Me: Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair. Said Simple Simon to the pieman, "Let me taste your ware."
- Andrea: I knew you would know that! Maggie said she wanted a simple Friday, and I said "Like Simple Simon" and she didn't know who that was, so I said I'd find out from you how the poem went.
- Me: I don't even know how I knew that.
- Kelsey: So how do you get known for knowing stuff like that?
- Me: I don't even know. But Simple Simon's life gets a lot less simple after that, as he realizes he has no money for pies and then his wife poisons him.
In Which I Plan to Waste My Vote
I will be voting for a third party Presidential candidate this November.
“Sarah, you’re wasting your vote!”
No, I’m not. What I’m doing is not wasting my right to vote. What I’m doing is not wasting an opportunity to actually change things.
You want to know what a wasted vote looks like? Voting for the “lesser of two evils” because you don’t actually think either of the two “viable” candidates are the right leader for These United States, but you’ve gone and convinced yourself that voting for someone you believe in is “a wasted vote”. Because you believe the lie that a third party vote is a vote for the wrong candidate.
We live in a country where two Political Parties established a non-profit organization specifically to control elections by making up absurd rules about needing to show a 15% support rating in 5 major polls to be included in the Presidential Debates, which are funded by private contributions from corporations.
Let’s take a look at which major polls even mention more than 2 candidates:
- Gallup. No.
- Rasmussen Reports. No.
- Politico. No.
- Fox News. No.
- Real Clear Politics. No.
- Ipsos. Includes “Independent”, and “Other”.
- Democracy Corps. Includes “Other”.
Huh. I wasn’t aware “Other” was a Party. Maybe that’s the Party my childhood sibling “I Don’t Know” joined when he grew up.
It’s hard to get a rating when polls don’t even include your name. It’s hard to have a chance at winning an election when you’re not allowed to participate in the Presidential Debates.
The only wasted votes I see are the ones cast thinking that voting for a viable party is going to change anything at all.
My hopes for the future expand beyond the status quo. If you feel similar feelings, go ahead and take this quiz. Select “other” on the options to see a list of opinions on all the issues. Rate how important each issue is to you. At the end, you’ll be presented with a list of candidates. All the candidates. And you’ll be told who would best represent you.
I’ll bet you a dollar it’s not the lesser of two evils.
Go ahead. Waste a vote with me.
So is there a support group for people whose marriages have been violated by same sex couples saying “I do”? Because I feel like that’s probably a pretty traumatic experience.
Anyway I just used my lunch break to make a color-coded spreadsheet of State Fair foods for tomorrow.
And the Milwaukee Air and Water Show is this weekend and I’m going on Sunday and I can hear the Blue Angels practicing outside my office!
This is my life, you guys. :-)
Continued...
Someone on Facebook has let me know that Chick-Fil-A’s comments are not unconstitutional, and that people need to stop vilifying people because their opinions are not “politically correct”.
Reply:
While you might not see CFA’s expressing their opinions on marriage equality, or their financial support to hate groups and groups that promote the idea that gay people are pedophiles, or organizations that actively work to “pray away the gay”, as an abuse of a constitutional right, the people that are actually living with the consequences of these actions may feel differently.
It’s a convenient, comfortable life, sitting on a couch and defending an opinion because, at the end of the day, your only real consequence is people on the internet disagreeing with you. For people who have to actually work at having a life where they’re treated fairly, and feel the failure of that hard work every day, knowing that a major, financially influential business is actively working against their equality is insulting. And disgusting.
———
I hate bigots. Especially bigots who refuse to admit they are bigots. So, you know, all bigots. Fuck ‘em.
