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So, like, the radio this morning was talking about school closures and highway closures and all sorts of stuff related to lots of snow having been dumped around the state. So I curiously opened up the blinds and had a look outside to see what all the fuss was about, and outside my window was a blanket of wintry stuff, enough to cover the ground, and more falling. Mind you, it’s not the uber-snow of back home, but I was pleased. Of course, I had to drive places this morning, so that meant being extra-careful on the roads and around the other people. The roads were okay, though - slushy for most of the drive, and then one stretch near destination that was still snow-covered. That said, on my side of things, we got a light dusting - further east got hammered.
I was still at work while it was going on, but Mr. Bush delivered his final State of the Union address tonight, speaking before the Congress that has been eager conspirators and ineffective opposition through his entire two terms. Even while he was telling them how much he hates their work, the members of Congress were apparently applauding him. For comparison, have a look at some numbers about The Real State of the Union.
After as much as he’s said about Iraq tonight, the focus seems to be changing back to Afghanistan and Pakistan while Mr. Bush’s term runs out. With all the people and money that’s been sent to Iraq, it’s a wonder that any of the wounded get to have something like normal lives. One of the wounded can walk again, thanks to Bluetooth technology that controls both his prosthetic legs.
Regarding the primary elections on the country, we’re sure glad Mike Huckabee’s campaign is losing steam fast, now that he’s come out as a fundamentalist wingnut. Including comparing America to Nazi Germany because of secularism, and his wish for Christian constitutional amendments.
Scientists in the United Kingdom are striking back at a statement made by the Catholic Church regarding a claim that stem cell legislation would permit the creation of half-human, half-animal embryos. The scientists maintain that all the animal DNA in a host embryo is removed and that the human DNA means human stem cells would be produced. There are no plans to make any sort of chimera from this process, not to mention all the ethical violations that such a thing would be. The bishops maintain that even as described, the host embryos are a mixing of human and non-human elements, which is incompatible with Catholic theology.
Of 500 major firms worldwide, only 10% consider global warming to be a major concern. Really, government can only do so much. If the case is to be made for reducing climate change possibilities, the corporate world must want it. Or must be given no choice but to want it. Waiting for corporations to do it all themselves is a losing prospect.
The Cute and Whimsical department says LEGO is 50 years old today. Go build something out of rigid plastic pieces in celebration. Slightly less cute, about the same in whimsical, and waaaaaaay more expensive are Zeus Computer's gold and diamond and platinum and diamond PC cases.
The Dark and Scary department offers us the bad side of an RFID-enabled world. Yay, tracking for marketing, for government, for everything! And if that wasn’t enough to give you the heebie-jeebies, peer inside the history of psychopathy, and learn why that grin without remorse or conscience is so unnerving. For the icing on the cake, investigate a possible account of the Department of Homeland Security being hands-on with the editing of a blog.
Our unabashed feminism contributor, the talented![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ldragoon reminds us that the situation in Burma/Myanmar is still a wreck, with plenty of repression and censorship all around. Following the principle of “take a penny, leave a penny”, we offer an outrage in return - the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant's refusal to take Stephanie Conover, Miss Canada Plus, on as a judge because she reads tarot cards and practices reiki. The director, Karen Murray, dismisses Miss Canada Plus because “...tarot card reading and reiki are the occult and is not acceptable by God, Jews, Muslims or Christians. Tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists and mediums to consult the dark world.” Not only that, she considers Conover is “trying to stir up trouble” and is “...obviously a vindictive person” because Conover’s willing to stand up for her beliefs and practices. Murray also hides behind the reasoning that because there’s no government funding for the event, she and the pageant board have the right to determine who sits on their judging panel. All this after receiving her biography in the mail. After having made such statements, Director Murray then had the audacity to disclaim that her group was religious in nature, saying that her group was “God-fearing”, that “We adhere to God’s principles”, but “I wouldn’t say we’re religious.”
The first thing that springs to mind here is that Miss(Ms.? Mrs.?) Conover has already been named Miss Canada Plus. Either the matter of her spiritual beliefs and hobbies didn’t come up at all, or a national-level pageant was perfectly okay with them. Second, how does excluding someone who does Tarot and reiki from judging permit any sort of idea that Miss Toronto Tourism is being judged by a representative sample of the city? I’m sure there are plenty of Tarot readers and reiki practitioners in Toronto, and witches, and enthusiasts of several practices that would meet with disapproval from Ms. Murray. Why are they excluded from making the decision? It’s not “Miss Toronto Socially Conservative Monotheist”, now is it? My sense of humor wants to ask Ms. Murray what an obviously fine and upstanding social conservative like her is doing heading a beauty pageant, where some significant portion of the judging is based on whether the chosen candidate is attractive and would turn people’s heads. We thought the whole concept would be repugnant because of all the vanity and pride involved. After all, if we’re going to be prejudging based on stereotypes, we may as well play them all the way out to the hilt, right? I don’t think that Toronto wants their Tourism beauty to be telling the world “Come to Toronto, where only those who are God-fearing and righteous may exist publicly!” Oh, and hiding behind the idea that because no government money was involved, the board has the right to choose whomever it wants to? Weak. Probably legal, but weak. One would think the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has an item on the freedom to exercise religion, whatever it may be, and that there are employment laws forbidding discrimination based on religious practice, regardless of whether the employer gets any sort of government monies. So Miss Canada Plus may be able to make a case for discrimination - although I have no idea if it would work if she wasn’t actually being hired.
Anyway, on that cheery and uplifting note, it’s definitely bed time. G’night, everyone.
I was still at work while it was going on, but Mr. Bush delivered his final State of the Union address tonight, speaking before the Congress that has been eager conspirators and ineffective opposition through his entire two terms. Even while he was telling them how much he hates their work, the members of Congress were apparently applauding him. For comparison, have a look at some numbers about The Real State of the Union.
After as much as he’s said about Iraq tonight, the focus seems to be changing back to Afghanistan and Pakistan while Mr. Bush’s term runs out. With all the people and money that’s been sent to Iraq, it’s a wonder that any of the wounded get to have something like normal lives. One of the wounded can walk again, thanks to Bluetooth technology that controls both his prosthetic legs.
Regarding the primary elections on the country, we’re sure glad Mike Huckabee’s campaign is losing steam fast, now that he’s come out as a fundamentalist wingnut. Including comparing America to Nazi Germany because of secularism, and his wish for Christian constitutional amendments.
Scientists in the United Kingdom are striking back at a statement made by the Catholic Church regarding a claim that stem cell legislation would permit the creation of half-human, half-animal embryos. The scientists maintain that all the animal DNA in a host embryo is removed and that the human DNA means human stem cells would be produced. There are no plans to make any sort of chimera from this process, not to mention all the ethical violations that such a thing would be. The bishops maintain that even as described, the host embryos are a mixing of human and non-human elements, which is incompatible with Catholic theology.
Of 500 major firms worldwide, only 10% consider global warming to be a major concern. Really, government can only do so much. If the case is to be made for reducing climate change possibilities, the corporate world must want it. Or must be given no choice but to want it. Waiting for corporations to do it all themselves is a losing prospect.
The Cute and Whimsical department says LEGO is 50 years old today. Go build something out of rigid plastic pieces in celebration. Slightly less cute, about the same in whimsical, and waaaaaaay more expensive are Zeus Computer's gold and diamond and platinum and diamond PC cases.
The Dark and Scary department offers us the bad side of an RFID-enabled world. Yay, tracking for marketing, for government, for everything! And if that wasn’t enough to give you the heebie-jeebies, peer inside the history of psychopathy, and learn why that grin without remorse or conscience is so unnerving. For the icing on the cake, investigate a possible account of the Department of Homeland Security being hands-on with the editing of a blog.
Our unabashed feminism contributor, the talented
ldragoon reminds us that the situation in Burma/Myanmar is still a wreck, with plenty of repression and censorship all around. Following the principle of “take a penny, leave a penny”, we offer an outrage in return - the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant's refusal to take Stephanie Conover, Miss Canada Plus, on as a judge because she reads tarot cards and practices reiki. The director, Karen Murray, dismisses Miss Canada Plus because “...tarot card reading and reiki are the occult and is not acceptable by God, Jews, Muslims or Christians. Tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists and mediums to consult the dark world.” Not only that, she considers Conover is “trying to stir up trouble” and is “...obviously a vindictive person” because Conover’s willing to stand up for her beliefs and practices. Murray also hides behind the reasoning that because there’s no government funding for the event, she and the pageant board have the right to determine who sits on their judging panel. All this after receiving her biography in the mail. After having made such statements, Director Murray then had the audacity to disclaim that her group was religious in nature, saying that her group was “God-fearing”, that “We adhere to God’s principles”, but “I wouldn’t say we’re religious.”The first thing that springs to mind here is that Miss(Ms.? Mrs.?) Conover has already been named Miss Canada Plus. Either the matter of her spiritual beliefs and hobbies didn’t come up at all, or a national-level pageant was perfectly okay with them. Second, how does excluding someone who does Tarot and reiki from judging permit any sort of idea that Miss Toronto Tourism is being judged by a representative sample of the city? I’m sure there are plenty of Tarot readers and reiki practitioners in Toronto, and witches, and enthusiasts of several practices that would meet with disapproval from Ms. Murray. Why are they excluded from making the decision? It’s not “Miss Toronto Socially Conservative Monotheist”, now is it? My sense of humor wants to ask Ms. Murray what an obviously fine and upstanding social conservative like her is doing heading a beauty pageant, where some significant portion of the judging is based on whether the chosen candidate is attractive and would turn people’s heads. We thought the whole concept would be repugnant because of all the vanity and pride involved. After all, if we’re going to be prejudging based on stereotypes, we may as well play them all the way out to the hilt, right? I don’t think that Toronto wants their Tourism beauty to be telling the world “Come to Toronto, where only those who are God-fearing and righteous may exist publicly!” Oh, and hiding behind the idea that because no government money was involved, the board has the right to choose whomever it wants to? Weak. Probably legal, but weak. One would think the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has an item on the freedom to exercise religion, whatever it may be, and that there are employment laws forbidding discrimination based on religious practice, regardless of whether the employer gets any sort of government monies. So Miss Canada Plus may be able to make a case for discrimination - although I have no idea if it would work if she wasn’t actually being hired.
Anyway, on that cheery and uplifting note, it’s definitely bed time. G’night, everyone.
