Tag Archives: stupidity

Neutering Christmas

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” The attempts to de-Christianize Christmas are as absurd as they are relentless. The United States today is the most tolerant and diverse society in history. It celebrates all faiths with an open heart and open-mindedness that, compared to even the most advanced countries in Europe, are unique.”

“Yet more than 80 percent of Americans are Christian, and probably 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas. Christmas Day is an official federal holiday, the only day of the entire year when, for example, the Smithsonian museums are closed. Are we to pretend that Christmas is nothing but an orgy of commerce in celebration of . . . what? The winter solstice? ” – Charles Krauthammer, “Just Leave Christmas Alone“

(Thanks, Dappled Things)

ACLU Mining Member Data

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A.C.L.U.’s Search for Data on Donors Stirs Privacy Fears

The American Civil Liberties Union is using sophisticated technology to collect a wide variety of information about its members and donors in a fund-raising effort that has ignited a bitter debate over its leaders’ commitment to privacy rights.

Some board members say the extensive data collection makes a mockery of the organization’s frequent criticism of banks, corporations and government agencies for their practice of accumulating data on people for marketing and other purposes.

Does anyone else see an inconsistency in this? Doesn’t the ACLU list privacy as a
civil right?

Linguistic Gymnastics

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God forbid they call this “fetus” what it really is – a child. If an 8-month fetus survives a C-section, it’s called a baby. If it survives being removed by psychos, it’s still a fetus. If a child dies after birth, it’s called a dead baby. If it dies after a murder and amateur surgery, would it be called a dead fetus? How can Conner Peterson be called a murdered unborn child, but Jane Doe Stinnett was a fetus until found alive? Either it’s a baby or it isn’t. Make up your freakin’ minds!

The Grand Wizard of Earthsea

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I love the Earthsea series of books. I’ve read the original trilogy and the follow-up,
Tehanu. I hope to pick up the new stories some day soon. I was really looking forward
to watching the Sci-Fi Channel’s screen adaptation of the first two books of the
trilogy, but now I’m less enthused.

A Whitewashed Earthsea
How the Sci Fi Channel wrecked my books.
By Ursula K. Le Guin

On Tuesday night, the Sci Fi Channel aired its final installment of Legend of Earthsea, the miniseries based – loosely, as it turns out – on my Earthsea books. The books, A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, which were published more than 30 years ago, are about two young people finding out what their power, their freedom, and their responsibilities are. I don’t know what the film is about. It’s full of scenes from the story, arranged differently, in an entirely different plot, so that they make no sense. My protagonist is Ged, a boy with red-brown skin. In the film, he’s a petulant white kid. Readers who’ve been wondering why I “let them change the story” may find some answers here.