Far From It.

When normalcy is too much to ask for.
August 21
“ Whole Foods appears to be such a reasonable, benign organization. But I can’t trust anything Whole Foods says anymore.

Newton, MA woman regarding Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s recent WSJ op-ed opposing government-run health care.

I feel exactly the same way. This has truly cast doubts for me over whether any of the spinach pastas at Whole Foods really contain any spinach at all. Life can be so cruel.
August 15

Basque electropop!

August 7
"Massachusetts judges take a run at social mores."

Judges are not “activist” just because their constitutional decisions do not align with your personal views. Try telling an interracial couple that Loving v. Virginia (1969) should be overruled because it changed social mores. Or tell a black child in a wealthy primarily-white school that Brown v. Board (1954) was just too radical and flimsy to stand.
August 1

What Happens When You Shower In Germany Without Knowing How To Read German Product Labels

I don’t have any story quite as funny as this from my travels. But this brings back to my memory the time I was standing in a German grocery store trying to decide between two bars of Milka chocolate. The first one was “haselnuss” and the second was “trauben-nuss.” Both had a picture of a hazelnut on them, so I was clearly perplexed as to what the difference was (it turns out that trauben is fruit and there was also a picture of fruit on the package; unfortunately, it was being covered by the display case).

Anyway, it didn’t help that at this point I had been alone in Germany for a week, it was raining hard, and during my week in Germany, I had had a reasonable amount of difficulty finding people that knew how to speak English (or wanted to speak English to me). Regardless, for some reason, this was the “breaking point” (but not in a particularly bad way) for me and I started to laugh rather uncontrollably in the middle of a supermarket in Cologne while the Germans looked at me as if I was the crazy American that needed to be watched closely. While it was not exactly an amazing experience at the time, it definitely ranks among the most memorable experiences of my European monomyth.

lenachen:

You wind up using “aloe vera” shampoo for five days before your boyfriend points out that it’s for dogs.
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Absolutely Disgusting.

When older people ask “what has society come to?,” I often shrug it off. But this article has me asking the same question. An upstanding man who worked hard to put his children through college was killed in a Massachusetts city for a few dollars worth of Chinese food. Somebody (or some group of people) placed a bogus food order from an untraceable number and then attacked him when he arrived with the food. My thoughts go to his family. Hopefully the thugs responsible will be brought; though I am not sure justice could ever be done in a situation like this.
July 31

Outrageous Bumper Sticker.

Tonight, while I was driving, I saw a bumper sticker that absolutely infuriated me. It read:

“RESIST! Obama is not MY president.”

Okay, I don’t even know where to begin with this. Clearly the person is really conservative and is not really happy with the outcome of the November 2008 election. I get that. My empathy is driven by having felt very similarly when President Bush was re-elected in 2004.

What gets me, though, is that this clearly uber-conservative person is probably one of the people who would have shaken their head in disgust and called me “unpatriotic” for criticizing Bush—just 8 short months ago. The difference between us, however, is that I never tried to claim that Bush was not my president. He was, very clearly, my president. I may not have been happy about the situation, but I accepted it because 51 percent of America thought that he would be the better choice in 2004—and that’s how democracy works.

And maybe this person was not one of those “you are unpatriotic for leveling criticism against our president when we are at war” people and instead was a active supporter of free speech (though I find this dubious). But even if this person was a fervent proponent of the first amendment, I find that go so far and say that Obama is not your president is as offensive to America and to our revered democracy as you can get. There are clearly far more productive ways to level your criticism. Get a bumper sticker saying that you are “Anti-tax. Anti-Obama” or “Pro-child. Anti-Obama.” But to go so far as to publicly disavow your president…I just find that pretty offensive to everything that America is supposed to stand for.

But then maybe the person driving the car is not from America and Obama really isn’t his or her president. Maybe.

July 30
Incredible.

While it is really sad that people are being forced to live in tent cities, I find it absolutely fascinating that these people created a direct democracy in the midst of deplorable conditions. This truly trumps so many stereotypes of the homeless as being dangerous, disorderly, etc.
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“ No matter how politically charged the discussions about marriage equality may get, the question is really a simple one: Do the rights and privileges we offer citizens include everyone in our country, or only some of us? … I believe that allowing gays and lesbians the freedom to marry is an idea whose time has come … Equality under the law and personal freedoms are what make America the greatest country in the world, and they are core values that I hold as a Republican. Meghan McCain, in an open letter to Republican New York State Senators on the gay marriage bill. BRAVO!
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The aftermath of a terrorist attack in northern Spain that is presumed to have been carried out by the Basque separatist group ETA. The blast targeted a barracks that housed many familes and as a result several children were wounded in the attack. The idea that so many people in so many parts of the world (from developing nations to fully developed nations like Spain) believe that the use of indiscriminate and brutal violence against civilians is a good way to achieve their ends saddens me to no end. (Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

The aftermath of a terrorist attack in northern Spain that is presumed to have been carried out by the Basque separatist group ETA. The blast targeted a barracks that housed many familes and as a result several children were wounded in the attack. The idea that so many people in so many parts of the world (from developing nations to fully developed nations like Spain) believe that the use of indiscriminate and brutal violence against civilians is a good way to achieve their ends saddens me to no end.

(Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

July 29

Offensive Facebook Bullshit of the Day

aurorachronicles:

The Facebook group: THE SHIT WOMEN DO THAT TURN YOU OFF..(WOMEN READ AND LEARN)

This facebook group is a list of things women shouldn’t do, according to… well, it’s not entirely clear, but I think “society” may be one of the culprits, and judging from the members in the group, it sounds like shitty New York Guido society.

I’m not going to list every thing women should not do according to “Steve ‘The Hammer’ Armato”, but I do want to highlight some of the most offensive:

“4. NEVER EVER LISTEN TO YOUR FRIENDS.

6. we don’t want to meet any gay friends you have.

18. i like sports. you don’t. so if i go to a game… don’t get mad that i didn’t invite you.

24. realize that male friends don’t truly exist, if he ain’t related to you he wants to fuck you or be with your in some sort of way.

26. don’t lie to yourself and excuse your hoe activities and promiscuity as female liberation and empowerment. you will just come off as a ‘liberated’ hoe. sorry, the double standard is not fair but unfortunately, society says you’re still a slut.

33. you complain that guys never listen, but you only want to talk about Oprah and whatever fucking celebrity is on the news. get some fucking culture.”

Where oh where to begin??

4. Huh???? “don’t listen to your friends”??? Why does this only apply to women? What if your friend is an award-winning doctor telling you you’re going to die if you don’t get surgery in the next three months? I don’t even understand what thought process lead to this being on the list.

6. FUCK YOU, I don’t have any straight friends

18. Uh, honey, I’m a professional sports journalist. I know more about sports than you’ll ever know. And I’m not the only female that is interested in sports (see Women’s Sports)

24. They’re called gay friends. God, I feel like breaking shit.

26. Wait, so you disagree with a societal norm and you choose to… follow it? You acknowledge that this norm is stupid and yet you elevate and revere it? I blame all of slavery AND the Holocaust on you.

33. Oh, “get some fucking culture”? What “fucking culture” do you have, the history of the mafia in Staten Island? Ugh, go fuck yourself.

It’s things like these that exacerbate my misanthropy and make me root for corrupt scumbags who pocket these guys’ tax dollars and spent them on Hair Club for Men products.

Reading this on my friend’s blog, I got really upset and just wanted to respond to each and every one of these points. But then I realized that my friend did it more powerfully (if more vulgarly) than I ever could.