Sure, Why Not?

Today I’ve officially completed the sending of the 6th Annual NYRA Holiday Cards! Yay! Last year I sent 570 cards but this year it was back down to 480. No really reason except by the time I went to order more the price had been raised. Oh, well.

It’s teal with snowflakes and some pink gifts on either side of the Annual Meeting picture.

Like 2009, Alex was nowhere to be found with helping with recipients. Though maybe that’s not totally true, as what helped me the most this year was not only some he provided last year but the last two years’ Annual Reports, which he put together.

Anyway, having been doing this for six years now, there are some things that have changed and some that stay the same. So enjoy some fun facts!

-There were 90 cards in the first holiday card run in 2006. They were all sent on the same day.

-Daily batches of holiday cards are always a multiple of 30 because that’s how many labels there are on the Avery label sheets I use.

-Cards are sealed using a moist napkin and clear tape. So, don’t worry, my tongue goes nowhere near them!
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So just like every year, I’ve been preparing and sending NYRA’s holiday cards, and my soundtrack for this task has been 97.1 WASH’s 24/7 Christmas music on the stupid I Heart Radio streaming thing. Something that, as a cursory glance through the Musical Musing category will tell you, I have a rather complicated relationship with!

One popular and of course overplayed song is Elton John’s “Step Into Christmas”. Not bad.

Then I noticed something about the song I never noticed before.

The first line of the song is… “Welcome to my Christmas song!”

…

Um, thanks, Elton! I guess.

You see, that’s the kind of lyrics that really makes you think.

Even if just thinking he should go back to Chef for more help with them.

Now for a generational, sneering edition of…

SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!

I’m really getting sick of the same canned “complaint” about the younger generation, whether my own or ones after or even a little before, that we expect life to be fair all the time. This is blamed on school and maybe parents that supposedly give out awards just for participating, hoping to squash competition in order to prevent anyone from “feeling bad”. Or occasionally blamed on pop culture telling stories implying nothing seriously bad will ever happen to you.

And that all these messages have supposedly spoiled us and made us think life is perfect or that we’re good at things even when we’re not.

Speaking as someone whose schools and teams and such did have participation awards…

Bull-fucking-shit.

How stupid do you think we are?
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It’s Christmas time, so we are reminded quite a bit that most if not all of our Christmas traditions had Pagan origins. And, as such, you’re quick to complain that Christians “stole” your holidays. I covered this before but let’s go over this again.

1. Everybody already knows trees, wreaths, holly, and other symbols had Pagan roots. This isn’t new information. Do you also go to Italian restaurants and remind people there that the Chinese invented spaghetti and the Italians “stole” it?

2. So what?

3. There’s a pretty good chance these “blessed” traditions of yours that the Christians apparently sullied were already someone else’s before YOU “stole” them.

4. The word “Pagan” is a blanket term for just plain anyone who doesn’t follow an Abrahamic religion. By combining this complaint of stolen traditions, the specific people who had them originally are still being erased even by those claiming to defend them. Saturnalia, holly, evergreen trees, and Mithras each came from DIFFERENT cultures.

5. Also, how exactly is anything “stolen”? As in #3, cultures’ icons and celebrations mix and match all the time. These things evolve over time. While Christians were certainly trying to make some of the icons about Jesus so to encourage or force conversions, this is hardly specific to Christians, and just because the Christians are trying to say the shamrock is the holy trinity or the holly represents Jesus’s crucifixion somehow doesn’t mean it has to mean that to you. Which brings me to…

6. Go ahead and celebrate Saturnalia or Yule or whatever. No one is stopping you. In fact, I highly encourage it. Have a party. Invite people. Do traditional things for whichever culture’s Winter Solstice celebration you’re having. And you know what? It’s a fun, unique, and even educational experience that does a way better job of reminding people of the “real” origins of some of these things than does whining that Christmas “stole” it from you. More fitting for the season, too.

7. And this I say to Pagans AND Christians and anyone else… quit worrying about how OTHER people celebrate during the holiday season and worry about how you are.

Anyway, the sun starts heading back this way in about 11 days. Get celebrating. However you want.

You know what I don’t get?

Or, actually, I’ll let xkcd explain the person I mean. Here: http://xkcd.com/479/

Yeah, that’s where he brags that despite his imperfect life, at least his cell phone makes a “ringing” sound.

I’ve known several people who’ve made that exact complaint.

I wonder if these same people also eschew alarm clock radios.

Because, like phones, alarm clocks are a thing that once could only sound their alarm through ringing a bell. Then alarm clock radios became a thing, so you could wake up to an annoying buzzer or to the (even more annoying depending on station) radio coming on.

I mean, yeah, we associate a ringing phone with a bell-like ringing sound because that’s really the only sound phones made for the longest time. Even when phones didn’t have so much a bell, but still made a tone that mimicked ringing. Then phones decided, screw it, we’re not bound by a bell anymore, so instead of a bell sound we’ll play “Oops I Did It Again” when someone calls.

Which, of course, scared some people. “Oh noes, phones aren’t making a ringing sound like they’re supposed to, run for your lives! ahhh!”

So… yeah.

Emergency contraception is available over-the-counter. No prescription needed! That is, unless you’re under 17.

But the FDA came in and said “why stop those under 17? this is safe for all young women capable of pregnancy!”

But then HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the FDA, the people who actually know WTF they’re talking about, “nah, the idea of this being available to YOUNG GIRLS OMG sounds scary! so I’m going to say no to this and keep the current age restriction LOL”. And Obama supports her decision.

*sigh*

Really? I mean, I’m not surprised in a way. Typical pandering bullshit, trying not to make the Republicans too uncomfortable. And politics doesn’t like women or youth and therefore especially doesn’t like young women! So the Obama administration wants to make its policies less squeamish to the average anti-youth misogynistic Joe Six-Pack by not – gasp! – letting 12-year-olds access emergency contraception!

Sebelius claimed that she wasn’t so sure it was actually safe for those under 17. Because she knows better than FDA, the people who have to comb through mountains and mountains of research that’s been conducted before they come to such a conclusion. Right. Hey, Sebelius, you know what’s actually not so great for young girls? PREGNANCY!

Again, though, shouldn’t be surprised. Politicians reach astounding levels of cluelessness when it comes to just about anything about young people, especially their reproductive issues. They ignore any statistics and sense and just cover their ears and go “la la la la la!” and just pass more laws to hurt young people for their political gain. Hey, it’s not like those young people can VOTE!

Anyway, here’s a Change.org petition about it. And here’s a lovely piece by Scarleteen! And here’s a lovely paragraph from that piece:

It’s so tremendously important that your requests for rights like these be heard. And that the incredibly sound, sage things you say like this from reader Arai, “These politicians really need to get on the same CENTURY as the one young people live. All the questioning for contraceptives, abortion rights, gay marriage are real in today’s society,” or this from reader Katrina, “Politicians on both sides of the aisle reach unheard of levels of cluelessness when it comes to youth reproductive rights and needs,” are heard and seen. It is, of course just as important that they are also very thoughtfully and with great intention considered in choices like this, but we can’t help much with that part, save continuing to say things like that and continuing to be ardent supporters of youth rights, including reproductive rights.

Yes, that Katrina is me!

Six years ago, I had a problem with my computer that turned out to be corrupted RAM. After it was fixed, after a month of annoyance and trying to troubleshoot it, I wrote the tale on NYRA’s forums and later posted it here. After that, because I had specified the error message and all, I found a lot of search hits going to that page, and I later wondered how many people I was helping, people who were in the same position I was.

I think I’ll do it again. This time with cars!

Namely, Hyundai Elantra. I have a 2007 Elantra. Last year, its alarm kept going off for no reason. Middle of the night. Neighbors surely wanted to murder me. And I didn’t know how to stop it. Searching online didn’t even help much. There was one night I was sitting up awake until really late waiting to shut it off if it went off again. I thought it stopped happening, that it was just one weird time, but my housemate told me it happened again. And again. :\

It’s a common Elantra problem actually. The alarm kept going off because there’s a sensor thingy under the hood that detects whether the hood is open, and if it thinks the hood is open when the car is locked, it sets off the alarm. When this happens, the sensor is always thinking the hood is open! I think the wind especially triggers it.

So I took it to the dealership and waited, wondering what they’d find and how much I was about to owe. Only to find they knew exactly what it was, replaced the sensor, and because my car was still under warranty, didn’t cost me a thing! Yay!

And I’m thinking about it again now because I have a neighbor who also has an Elantra and its alarm has been going off the past several nights! This neighbor probably also doesn’t know what to do, if he/she even knows about it. I’m going to go out and leave a note on the windshield telling them it’s the hood sensor and to take it to the dealership.

True, this might not quite be as helpful as the computer problem since my advice is still basically to go to the dealership and have them fix it, and could be costly if warranty is expired. Could be the neighbor knows this already but can’t afford the repair right now, and my note might come off as more obnoxious than helpful. But I guess I’ll still bet on helpful.

If you were to travel back 500 years and tell people then that we can light up a room by flipping a switch on a wall, what would they think? They’d probably think it’s magic. They’d probably try to burn you for being a witch. Or they’d probably think you’re lying, that it’s impossible. They’d probably think lighting a room by a simple switch on a wall rather than lighting a candle or lantern is just some supernatural, science fiction idea.

But now, we have long since harnessed electricity and made it light our rooms as well as do a zillion other things. It’s not some crazy supernatural idea anymore. It’s not something only perhaps some divine power can do. It’s something that through many discoveries we’ve found how to do ourselves, that such a power already exists in the natural world.

Then there’s the electromagnetic spectrum. We can only see visible light, but of course the spectrum is a hell of a lot bigger than that, with all the microwaves and infrared, and on the other side ultraviolet and ionizing radiation. But we have little to no way of knowing these invisible wavelengths are there without special technology. Before such a thing was known, if the idea of undetectable waves flying around were suggested, you’d seem crazy, like you’re believing in things you can’t prove. Although, as we now know, more accurately that statement would be “things you can’t prove YET”. Up until that point, the idea of such invisible energy was perhaps… a supernatural concept.

All that said, I do tire of religious people using “there’s so much in the universe we can’t explain” to essentially mean “so there must be a God!” Um, no shit there’s so much we can’t explain. Earth is the only part of the universe we know all that well and can live on (as of right now anyway), and even here on our own planet there’s so much undiscovered. Even as far as we’ve come, we’ve barely even left tiny scratches in the surface of all there is. But that doesn’t translate to “God did it”. It translates to “we just haven’t discovered it yet”.
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I hereby decree…

It’s NOT “just like the Holocaust”!

A common rookie mistake. I’ve done it myself. It’s this need to justify your movement by comparing it to the Holocaust, to slavery, or whatever other Historical Bad Thing that everyone knows is Very Very Bad.

This needs to stop. Not only is the one who makes the comparison often ignorant of the thing they are comparing their issue to, not only can it make light of the compared atrocity, not only does it just piss people off more than anything else (and not in a way you’d want to piss them off), but it contributes nothing to the case and movement.

If the thing you’re trying to say is horrible is really as horrible as you believe (and it probably is, don’t get me wrong), then you can make that case in and of itself.

For example, at my car’s dealership, there are these Humane Society posters with what looks like a half-dog half-child figure, and the point is that people who are abusive to their pets are likely also abusive to their children. And that this is apparently a reason to save abused pets. Yeah, as a youth rights supporter, fuck you, Humane Society! Your point is saving pets, not children. Children are abused rampantly regardless of how the family dog is treated. In fact, the movement to protect abused animals started BEFORE there was ever one to protect abused children. I guarantee you there are active members of PETA who still go home and beat their children. Instead, you piggyback off a serious issue, that you erroneously assume everyone knows is bad (90% of parents hit their children, “everyone” my ass!), and use it to promote your unrelated one. And you don’t have to do this, because abuse of pets is plenty bad enough on its own and you can argue that easily without pretending saving pets means saving children.
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It’s Christmas time, and we’re just three weeks away from the magical journey of our saintly rotund Arctic friend, Santa Claus.

With this anticipation comes the question of whether this kindly figure in fact exists or is merely an imaginative festive icon or a parental lie.

First of all, there’s no question over that. I’ve been over this. Santa Claus is real.

But then you get parents and others getting all upset because someone tells their children that Santa Claus isn’t real. How could the teacher say that to a second grader!

Oy. *facepalm*

With this comes the issue of parents controlling what information their kids receive, whether others have the “right” to say anything contrary to what the kids are told at home. That to say such a contrary word is to infringe upon “parents’ rights”. Rights to control any and all things said to people whose existence they happened to have a hand in.

Yeah, such a thing is not only a violation of right to information for the kids, but also incredibly delusional on the part of parents who think this. You can’t keep your kid in a bubble. It isn’t actually possible, and if you care about raising someone who’s supposed to be a productive member of society ever, don’t even try.

Don’t hide. Guide! Enable to deal.

The bubble will burst eventually. What then? What will you be left with?

A child you now hate because he no longer believes your bullshit, that’s what. And you’ll blame this newfound awareness and cynicism on teenage hormones or some shit.

Because you deluded yourself into believing you were Frankenstein or Pygmalion, that the child is there for you to fashion exactly as you see fit. And now your own bubble burst. Now your child is not your personal programmable robot but another human being with personal opinions who must be convinced of things and has free will.

Maybe live in the real world and save everyone involved a lot of trouble, hmm?

Now for a youth rights, occupied edition of…

Here’s to You!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, Usiel Phoenix!”

She’s the President of NYRA. Jeffrey Nadel’s the Vice President now. I like having the two of them running NYRA as I strongly believe they are our two greatest youth rights activists, though their powers and specialties are in different areas. Jeff’s a pro with the media and public relations and prestige and legal action and that sort of thing. Usi was an emancipated minor who’s had to not only overcome the conditions that led to her seeking it to begin with but the legal hurdles to at long last obtain it. And now that she’s gotten her freedom, she’s dedicated to doing the same for the other youth. She’s experienced more youth rights violations than most and is about attacking the root of the problem and expanding understanding of it.

And that is just what she’s been doing at Occupy Wall Street! Voting age. Behavior mod. You name it. She even stopped a mother from forcing her 15-year-old daughter home from the protests.

And then she was there when NYPD raided Zuccotti Park.

And the cops attacked her. They tried to suffocate her, but succeeded only in cracking a rib. Later they dislocated her elbow when forcing her to the ground.

NYPD DID THIS

And she battles on.

She’s alright now. But, damn, she is one of the bravest people I’ve ever had the privilege to know.

Technically, since one of the main things she’s been doing there is promoting youth rights, she experienced police brutality in the line of duty, so to speak.

Yet due to some weird technicalities her actions were completely left out of NYRA Freedom.

(Good Lord, our own organization is censoring Occupy stuff from its news! LOL)

And this is only the most recent of her wonderful youth rights endeavors. Last year, when we were rallying at the Supreme Court during the oral arguments for Schwarzenegger v EMA (later changed to Brown v EMA, which you may recall we won 7-2), she gave that amazing speech about free speech and voting rights! Not to mention her work leading up to it to find people to share their thoughts on the value of video games for our Amicus Brief. She’s also helped UTEC Lowell with their campaign to lower the Lowell, MA voting age to 17. She testified in DC against the curfew. She gave a presentation at the 2010 Annual Meeting about her emancipation process. And on top of all that, she’s the only board member besides myself who’s a regular at chats, who is interested in what our members have to say. Plus lots of other stuff I’m surely forgetting.

She’s a fierce fighter for the cause. We’re very honored to have her.

It’s the “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide” bullcrap run amok.

DC police think that a hemp shop selling Flex Your Rights’s “10 Rules for Dealing with Police” is indicative of them encouraging people to break the law.

Oh noes!

Wait… do they know that NYRA’s 2010 Annual Meeting played “10 Rules”? And we were in DC? And one of our organization’s positions is – gasp! – lowering the drinking age?! OMG that must mean we’re encouraging underage drinking and therefore law breaking! Someone arrest us! Arrest us for… I don’t know… something…

With the blatant police abuse we’ve seen lately at the Occupy events and else, something like this is hardly surprising.

From the search warrant affidavit:

Your Affiant notes that while this DVD is informative for any citizen, when introduced into a store that promotes the use of a controlled substance this DVD becomes a tool for deceiving law enforcement to keep from being arrested. The typical citizen would not need to know detailed information as to US Supreme Court case law regarding search and seizure because they are not transporting illegal substances in fear of being caught.

Oh, my good God… Hey, you know who else might have detailed info as to such Supreme Court case laws? The Supreme Court. And they’re – gasp! – also right there in DC! Oh, think of the children! Goodness, they’d better start raiding law schools because the students there might be – gasp! – learning about laws and rights and how to – gasp! – defend people who have broken those laws!

Oh, but they point out the problem is that it’s a hemp shop and thus “promotes use of a controlled substance” and that along with informing people of how to defend their rights is their red flag. That’s interesting, since as seen here, you especially would need to know your rights since simple possession and use of said controlled substance (ridiculousness of its illegality aside) is unneeded to have the police raiding you. Having a DVD containing information about simply knowing the laws of the land is enough for them to accuse you of misdeeds. So, yeah, if anything, they are proving their own statement wrong, and making it even moreso that, yeah, people not partaking in said disliked activity still need this information!

I also wonder where these raids are for other suspected illegal activity. Raiding any Tea Party assholes for likely breaking gun control laws? Raiding any churches or individuals who actively promote child abuse and even advise people on how to hide from Child Protective Services on it?

No, just peaceful protesters. If I’m not mistaken, this shop was in particular targeted because of involvement with Occupy DC. Which, again, if merely peacefully protesting and selling a DVD informing people of laws and rights is seen as constituting unsavory activity deserving of police raid, then the protests and rights DVDs are just being made all the more necessary!

Speaking of Occupy, stay tuned for tomorrow…

It’s that time again! It’s the first of December, so today and every day hereafter through New Year’s Eve will have a NEW entry on Sure, Why Not?, just like every year. So, let’s-

Oh, wait, I think I hear something! Let’s listen…

Thanksgiving You know, for a holiday about loving and sharing, you’re getting a bit greedy.

Christmas What? What’d I do?

Thanksgiving Let’s go over this one more time. November? Mine. December? Yours.

Christmas Yes, yes, I know. What’s the problem?

Thanksgiving The problem is your decorations keep appearing way the hell back in October in some cases.

Christmas October is Halloween’s territory. What do you care?

Thanksgiving Well, it’s not like they take them down in November just to put them back up a month later. No, instead, decorations are up.

Christmas Hey, now, let’s go over this one more time. I have no control over what people who celebrate me do.

Thanksgiving Well, try something. People are getting ready and excited for you when they haven’t thought about buying their turkey yet and are still finishing off their Halloween candy, if they’ve even distributed that yet. I’m getting covered up here.

Christmas Relax. You’re still the official gateway to my season.

Thanksgiving Who other than Nordstrom remembers that?

Christmas Come on, are you really worrying about what stores do? They’re about the all-mighty dollar. What about individual people? How many houses are Christmas decorated before you come along? Not many.

Thanksgiving I suppose.

Christmas So what’s the problem?

Black Friday LOL HAI U GUIZ

Thanksgiving Fuck off!

I hereby decree…

Babies aren’t sexy!

Happy Epiphany, everyone! It’s the official last day of the 2010 Christmas season, which in practice mostly just means that tomorrow it’s time to take down the decorations and for me to put my Santa Claus pin away until Thanksgiving. Always sad. But, contrary to my perhaps unsatisfactory posting frequency when it isn’t December, Sure, Why Not? is still here to celebrate the win, the fail, and the lulz.

Now let’s talk about the sexualization of infants…

Is anyone else really creeped out by ads on TV and elsewhere for skin products that seem to place a lot of emphasis on the smoothness of a baby’s skin? There’s that Johnson & Johnson baby oil ad that’s been on a few times where throughout the entire thing, some woman is downright fondling a little baby. It starts off with her kissing him on the lips, and throughout she also kisses his feet and rubs his baby-smooth stomach and arms and face. Why? Because he’s a little baby that makes his skin so smooth and fun to touch and rub! Oh joy!

Also creepy are ads for women’s skin products that at some point show a baby or toddler to point out that this cream will make your skin feel all smooth like theirs! Use this skin cream and your skin will be so soft you’ll feel like a baby! A sexy baby. Or a baby-like woman. Textural attractiveness means your features feeling like you spent most of the past year in a womb, be it the smooth baby skin as dictated by skin creams and moisturizers or soft baby hair as sung by Hall & Oates (though they at least think the eyes should be a woman’s).

Of course, the infantilization of women isn’t exactly new and is something feminists have been battling in several forms for about as long as there have been feminists!

Hey, I’m not saying anything against smooth skin. That’s fine. But when extolling how attractive and hot and sexy smooth soft skin and other features are, think you could, you know, leave the little kids out of that one? We really shouldn’t be encouraging people to find their features attractive and definitely not to feel them up!

And can we get rid of the phrase “smooth as a baby’s behind”? You’re talking about someone’s ass, for God’s sake!

*takes down lights, takes off pin*

And here we are. New Year’s Eve 2010, looking ahead to the still uncertain 2011. Though more on 2011 a year from now once it has actually occurred. Right now, let’s have a look back at 2010. It’s a year that from the get-go seemed rather, well, odd. Now through it, well, it was odd, certainly annoying much of the time, and certainly without a lot of the awesome encounters previous years had. Though with two heart-breaking losses. In any case, now for the recap!

January: Check Engine

-I think I’ll make guacamole
-Wow, this guacamole is fucking gross. Ack! Is this earwax?!
-Oh, I got the wrong kind of avocados. Okay.
-Hey, think I’ll check out that “Purity Myth” book… good shit.
-I need to get NYRA’s blog restarted.
-Ugh, NYRA online community is pissing me off, seriously.
-I’ll try this guacamole again, with the right avocados this time…
-Yummy!
-WTF?! Why is my check engine light on?
-Oh, I left the gas cap loose. Lulz
-I think I’ve got an idea for a hashtag Twitter campaign for NYRA.
-Still awkward and uncomfortable, Alex? Well, fuck you too then!
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Now for an environmental, temperate edition of…

SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!

You know what I’m really getting fucking sick of? Or, at least, that I’m choosing to mention at the moment? Every time the temperature dips a little higher or a little lower than is normal for a given season, you get wingnut assholes deciding this is some definite information about global warming.

You see it from both sides…

“OMG, it’s a 70 degree day in January! Global warming has killed winter!”

“OMG, it’s a 50 degree day in July! Global warming doesn’t exist!”

Uh, hi, I’d like to introduce you both to the Hasty Generalization logical fallacy.

I mean, it’s of course not about expressing any actual scientific knowledge, as those with actual scientific knowledge on this get drowned in partisan propaganda, and many scientific studies even then get performed often by or at least funded by those who want a particular result. No, the entire point is to be a pompous ass to the other side, all like “see? I was right about global warming and you were wrong!” Who cares if the “info” you’re basing this on is even remotely sound when it can be made to fit your gloating needs at a given moment, right?

So, really, STFU both of you. If you think one unseasonably warm or cool day or week or even season totally validates your insistance that global warming is a real threat or just something Al Gore made up, then you don’t have any damn clue what you’re talking about on this issue.

And, just saying… regardless of the truth of global warming… it’s hardly the only reason to be worrying about air pollution.

Oh, my good God…

Mother Sues McDonald’s for ‘Interfering’ With Kids

Happy Meals just got a little more expensive for McDonald’s: the fast food chain has been sued by California mother Monet Parham for using toys to make her two young daughters want nutritionally unsound Happy Meals…

Parham, mother of a six-year-old and two-year-old, said in a CSPI press release that: “I object to the fact that McDonald’s is getting into my kids’ heads without my permission and actually changing what my kids want to eat… what kids see as a fun toy, I now realize is a sophisticated, high-tech marketing scheme that’s destined to put McDonald’s between me and my daughters… I want McDonald’s to stop interfering with my family.”

Owwwww! My head hurts! Soooo much concentrated stupid!

*clutches head*

*takes ibuprofen*

Sigh. Okay, feel a little better now.
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Five years old today!

Yup, I have a five-year-old. Sometimes cranky. Sometimes ranty. Sometimes sweet. Sometimes thoughtful. Sometimes bored. Sometimes sad. Sometimes joyous. Sometimes excited.

Always colorful. Always awesome. Always full of whatever info or influence I happen to provide. Poor thing! Hehe.

Maybe I don’t give as much attention as I once did, but always there when needed, still there all these years. On to the sixth.

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY, EIGHT MINE FORTRESS!!!!

So last night at midnight, 97.1 finished up their six weeks of Christmas songs and switched back to their regular crap. Bleh.

It’s always a little sad. The festive songs get put away until next November and they’re back to the normal work-safe light rock and pop stuff. No more Sleigh Ride. No more Silver Bells. No more Winter Wonderland. No more Frosty the Snowman. Sigh.

But of course, there are the ones I will not miss. Namely, ones I’ve ranted about before. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (especially that obnoxious Perry Como version!). And others.

And… The Christmas Shoes.

Yeah, you know the one I mean. About the guy in line to buy presents who’s in a Charlie-Brown-ish “what’s the point?” mindset, and a boy in front of him is trying to buy shoes for his dying mother.
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Now for a gestational, abortive edition of…

SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!

Let’s say you hear a news story, something like this: A man beats his pregnant girlfriend to death because she did not want to have an abortion. Or the perpetrator may not be a boyfriend but a husband or one of her parents or whoever. May not have beaten her to death but raped her or injured her severely in some other way.

And who should shut the hell up? These fucking idiot prolifers who point to this horrible shit and say “see! see! pro-choice people commit violence, too!” Often times the headlines of these articles will identify the assailant as pro-choice or pro-abortion (which a lot of idiots think is just another word for pro-choice, which is bullshit, but more on that in a sec).

*facepalm*
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