just like sister ray said

Top Ten Reasons Why Gay Marriage Should Be Illegal

2009-11-09T18:34:59Z

(written by Laura Kathleen-Redman, found here)

01. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

02. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all like many of the principles on which this great country was founded; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

05. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of marriages like Britney Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

06. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.

07. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

08. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.

09. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

And as far as #1 goes, something like 90% of the world's species participate in homosexual behavior. If that doesn't at least earn it the title of "natural" I don't know what will.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals

I look forward to the day when Americans decide to abandon their bigotry toward their fellow man.

OMFG! :D

2009-11-08T07:25:46Z

Health Care Reform Bill PASSES House Of Representatives BY FIVE VOTES!!

OMG OMG OMG... Am I still in America? Because I'm fucking HAPPY for once!

VOTES: 220-215!!!

CHECK THIS SHIT OUT:

HOW THEY VOTED:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml

I know, it's too early to start celebrating, but I just want to take this oppurtunity to say...

UP YOURS, GRAND OL' PARTY WINGNUTS! HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?! (Them +5 apples which have set us on the course into the 21st century.)

I haven't had any alcohol since my Halloween debauchery, but this is a good night to start drinking again! :D

poll: Twin Peaks

2009-11-08T05:12:36Z

View Poll: Twin Peaks

sick down to my heart, that's just the way it goes

2009-11-07T05:00:07Z

Carl Sagan's would-be 75th birthday is on November 9th! I love you, Mr. Sagan! I'll drink in your honor, contemplate the 4th dimension, and if I have any weed left by then, I'll smoke some of it in your honor, too! Everyday I wish you were still alive and well. We need you.

I feel like crap. I've been sick on and off for two weeks. I took one tablespoon's worth of NyQuil last night, went into a 14-hour coma, during which I had a really fucked up, vivid dream about living in a castle, and I spent the first few hours of being awake trying to recover from the body buzz, dizziness and general zombification that I couldn't shake. And that's after taking only half of the recommended adult dose!

Goddamn dextromethorphan, seeping into my brain, destroying my sense of space and time.

I've watched 12 episodes of The Simpsons today. I've forgotten what real people look like. You know you've watched too much Simpsons when you look in a mirror and are shocked to see you're not yellow. Zing! I could probably write a hundred of those.

Don ordered another copy of William S. Burroughs' The Adding Machine for me, because I lost the one we had, and I've been really craving that book lately. If you haven't read it, you're really missing out. I've yet to meet anyone who has read that book aside from myself... I don't understand this phenomenon.

I was going to write an entry about how crazy Michele Bachmann is, but I think her antics speak for themselves. Bitch is wack. Almost makes me miss Sarah Palin. Not.

Edit: The commentary on the DVD of Taxi Driver is fucking awesome! Don put the movie on with commentary and fell asleep, so I watched it instead. I'm normally not one for commentary and special features and all of that extra crap, but I learned a lot about Taxi Driver, it was good stuff. Love that movie.

And Robert De Niro looks so good in it. ;)

behold the atheists' nightmare!

2009-11-06T06:04:58Z

This is my favorite "proof of god" video of all time. The oblivious sexual innuendo is priceless. Even Kirk Cameron looks slightly uncomfortable, and that's saying something.

Seriously, watch it:

c'mon and take me for a ride, take me to the other side

2009-10-23T23:02:31Z

I've been thinking and reading a lot about the scientific theories on end of the universe. All roads eventually lead to this puzzle, if you're aware that you live within a universe and what sort of properties it contains (or might contain). One of my biggest regrets about dying at some point within the next day to fifty years from now is that I won't live to know the fate of the universe. There are still a great many things we do not yet know enough about (such as dark energy, which plays a big role in several prominent theories). I really hope the Large Hadron Collider will be ready to go soon, and that we can acquire some highly-anticipated juicy universal gossip from it, even if what we learn only leads to more questions.

During my internet search, I came across this awesome movie poster from 1964:

I'm curious to know what you think about all of this, if you think the universe will even end or not. I had a rough time wording the answer options to this oversimplified poll, but I decided to include the "I am/I am not a religious person" portion because I think religious beliefs have some bearing on the way people may view this topic. (I'm interested in seeing some sort of correlation, if enough people vote.) Aside from the poll, I'd really like to hear your theories on the universe!

View Poll: The Universe: Finite vs. Infinite

first thing you learn is that you always gotta wait

2009-10-15T01:52:41Z

Ninety-eight days left until the first episode of the final season of Lost airs in America. You, too, can impatiently wait with me!

Dear Jebusgod,

Please don't smite me until after I've watched the Lost finale. In exchange, I shall sacrifice a televangelist upon an altar on your behalf.

And please don't send me any telepathic spoilers, or I shall smite thee instead.

Love,

Lydz

Any excuse to include a Lost meme:

The Junky's Christmas

2009-10-14T04:25:39Z

My sister found this at the Vanderbilt bookstore, and bought it for me:

I love this stop motion animation movie, it's my favorite animated short. Until she got this for me I only had it on a burned DVD, but now I have an actual copy! :D

Liz Cheney: Queen of Doublespeak

2009-10-13T02:56:36Z

Ugh, Liz Cheney.

Why are you such a crazy, lying cunt?

Oh wait, I just answered my own question -- you're a Cheney.

To paraphrase her primitive mental status: "America now looks less dominant because an American president just won the Nobel Peace Prize."

Wow, look at her logic skills go! (Right out the window!)

everyone needs to see this!

2009-10-10T18:56:33Z

This man, first-year Florida Congressman Alan Grayson, is my new hero:

FINALLY, a real ~~Democrat~~ human being, growing some testicles and standing up for what the majority of Americans really think. And I'll be damned, we had to rummage through fuckin' Florida, of all places, to find him.

Alan Grayson's Balls 2016!

obama's nobel peace prize

2009-10-09T23:49:10Z

President Barack Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize

The announcement drew gasps of surprise and cries of too much, too soon. Yet President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday because the judges found his promise of disarmament and diplomacy too good to ignore.

The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee – four of whom spoke to The Associated Press, said awarding Obama the peace prize could be seen as an early vote of confidence intended to build global support for the policies of his young administration.

They lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation, and praised his pledges to reduce the world stock of nuclear arms, ease U.S. conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthen its role in combating climate change.

"Some people say – and I understand it – 'Isn't it premature? Too early?' Well, I'd say then that it could be too late to respond three years from now," Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told the AP. "It is now that we have the opportunity to respond – all of us."

Jagland said the committee whittled down a record pool of 205 nominations and had "several candidates until the last minute," but it became more obvious that "we couldn't get around these deep changes that are taking place" under Obama.

Obama said he was surprised and deeply humbled by the honor, and planned to travel to Oslo in December to accept the prize.

- full article on The Huffington Post

What was he supposed to do -- turn it down? It's not like he asked for the Prize, for fuck's sake. And he's donating the $1.4 million to charity. If former president George W. Bush had won the Nobel Peace Prize, then we'd have genuine cause to act so shocked and disgusted.

This changes nothing. The Prize is symbolic. All of the rage I'm reading about this is equivalent to banging one's fist upon one's chest and ranting about being afraid of Obama's international acceptance: How dare this man be an influential citizen of the world, yes? How dare he gain Committee recognition for treating Muslims like human beings, after what America has done to the Middle East under Bush Junior! Terrible, isn't it? Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is just the absolute worst thing that could ever happen, right?

I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised that this happened so seemingly out of nowhere, but come the fuck on: It's the post-Bushian era. Any positivity deserves a fucking medal.

The more I think about this, and the more research I do about what the Nobel Committee was thinking, the more it starts to make sense. And the Republicans are just angry because their lord and master Ronald Reagan never won a Nobel Peace Prize. (Not that he deserved one -- if anyone from that nuclear stockpile era did, it was former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev. Yeah, that's right, I said it: Fuckin' Gorbachev.)

The fact there's even an issue about this seems so silly to me. It's just a symbolic prize, after all. Americans need to lighten the fuck up. The naysayers are actually agreeing with the Taliban on this, for fuck's sake. The Taliban.

I will say this, though: Mahatma Gandhi never won a Nobel Peace Prize, and that's a crying shame. He's a man who most definitely deserved one, above anyone else.

Here is a list of the people who have won the Nobel Peace Prize, from 1901 to 2009:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_Peace_Prize_laureates

EDITED TO ADD:

Geir Lundestad (the Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee) explains why they chose President Barack Obama:

Get over it, Republicans. In the words of Florida Congressman Alan Grayson, "No one cares about your feelings."

reading FTW!

2009-09-28T03:13:18Z

I finally added books to my Goodreads account, and if you have an account on there, you should add me!

http://www.goodreads.com/sister_ray

I've realized that I really enjoy writing short book reviews.

the life i've had can make a good man bad

2009-09-22T23:29:12Z

Tomorrow I'm going to see Yo La Tengo for the third time! Their live shows are amazing, because they're all really fucking talented.

We're going to get there early so we can get drunk sooner. But the show probably won't be over until after midnight, which means I'm only going to get a few hours of sleep right before work the next morning.

I'm extremely jealous of my cats because they get to sleep 20 hours a day. Fuzzy little bastards.

historical fear mongering stuck on repeat

2009-09-21T23:38:02Z

The Red Scare makes a shrill return, and McCarthy's corpse is sprouting a boner. The video below is very well made, it is a collection of politicians and talking heads calling Barack Obama and his administration "Communists", with infamous, correlating trials lead by McCarthy spliced in between. If you have any idea what this country went through in the 1950s, you have most likely noticed the deeply disturbing parallels between the hell McCarthy wrought upon the United States of America back then, and the current "Communist" fear mongering trend which the GOP's fundamentalists have been spouting to further poison the feeblest of American minds.

Obviously the modern version of The Red Scare is more diluted. It remains, for the most part, within the twisted fringes of the Republican party. But repeat a lie enough times and it spreads like a dangerous virus.

Barack Obama is most certainly not a Communist. Just like he is most certainly not Adolf Hitler, or Chairman Mao, or Karl Marx, or any other unfounded hyperbolic comparison which has been so rabidly made throughout this tiresome year. I'm pretty sure I would know if he was indeed a Communist, since I am, after all, from a Communist nation myself.

From Crooks and Liars:

Dear Gov. Rick Perry and Other Texan GOP:

2009-09-19T19:42:22Z

- Superpoop Comics -

poll: extraterrestrial visitation

2009-09-18T02:06:25Z

View Poll: Visitations to Earth

a very interesting perspective

2009-09-17T23:15:52Z

Saw this last night on Rachel Maddow's show, and it's finally on YouTube. You should definitely check this out:

CNN needs to fire Lou Dobbs, RIGHT NOW.

2009-09-16T22:35:14Z

SHAME ON YOU, CNN!

CNN is facing pressure on a number of fronts to drop Lou Dobbs from their roster of on-air talent, a move that would force millions of Americans seeking out news about the conspiracy to spread leprosy throughout America via illegal Mexican immigrants to turn instead to the guy who lives under the bridge by the old tire factory.

The action comes on the heels of Dobbs' decision to participate in a rally for a group called the Federation for American Immigration Reform. The Southern Poverty Law Center contends that FAIR is a "hate group":

"Founded by [John] Tanton in 1979, FAIR has long been marked by anti-Latino and anti-Catholic attitudes. It has mixed this bigotry with a fondness for eugenics, the idea of breeding better humans discredited by its Nazi associations. It has accepted $1.2 million from an infamous, racist eugenics foundation. It has employed officials in key positions who are also members of white supremacist groups. Recently, it has promoted racist conspiracy theories about Mexico's secret designs on the American Southwest and an alternative theory alleging secret plans to merge the United States, Mexico and Canada. Just last February, a senior FAIR official sought "advice" from the leaders of a racist Belgian political party."

(Read the full article on The Huffington Post.)

DEAR LOUISVILLIANS:

2009-09-12T20:35:49Z

"I Believe"

2009-09-09T06:22:29Z

The song "I Believe" by the Buzzcocks has some of the most amazing lyrics I have ever heard. Even without the music, the words are brilliant. It reads like goddamn poetry, the sort you actually want to read. It's clever, and it's continuously relevant to this increasingly chaotic, puzzling world. Timeless and insane. Observe:

In these times of contention it's not my intention to make things plain
I'm looking through mirrors to catch the reflection that can't be mine
I'm losing control now, I'll just have to slow down a thought or two
I can't feel the future and I'm not even certain that there is a past

I believe in the workers revolution
And I believe in the final solution
I believe in the shape of things to come
And I believe I'm not the only one

When I poison my system I take thoughts and twist them into shapes
I'm reaching my nadir and I haven't an idea of what to do
I'm painting by numbers but can't find the colors that fill you in
I'm not even knowing if I'm coming or going, if to end or begin

I believe in the immaculate conception
And I believe in the resurrection
I believe in the elixir of youth
And I believe in the absolute truth

There is no love in this world anymore

I've fallen from favor while trying to savor experience
I'm seeing things clearly but it has quite nearly blown my mind
It's the aim of existence to offer resistance to the flow of time
Everything is and that is why it is, will be the line

I believe in perpetual motion
And I believe in perfect devotion
I believe in the things I've never had
I believe in my mum and my dad

There is no love in this world anymore

I'm skipping the pages of a book that takes ages for the foreword to end
Triangular cover concealing another aspect from view
My relative motion is just an illusion from stopping too fast
The essence of being, these feelings I'm feeling, I just want them to last

I believe in original sin
And I believe what I believe in
I believe in the web of fate
And I believe in I'm going to be late
So I'll be leaving
What I believe in

There is no love in this world anymore

lol

2009-09-05T05:29:17Z

Way to go, Huffington Post! :D

poll: american health care reform

2009-08-23T17:55:10Z

View Poll: Public Option Health Care

amino acids found in comet samples

2009-08-19T18:46:18Z

From a Distant Comet, a Clue to Life

(NASA's sample return capsule contained comet and interstellar samples gathered by the Stardust spacecraft.)

By: Kenneth Chang, on August 18, 2009

For the first time, a building block of proteins — and hence of life as we know it — has been found in a comet.

That adds to the prevailing notion that many of the ingredients for the origin of life showered down on the early Earth when asteroids (interplanetary rocks orbiting the inner solar system) and comets (dirty ice balls that generally congregate in the outer solar system beyond Neptune) made impact with the planet.

In the new research, scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., detected the amino acid glycine in comet bits brought back in 2006 by the NASA space probe Stardust.

"It tells us more about the inventory of organics in the early solar system," said Jamie Elsila, an astrochemist at Goddard who led the research.

Amino acids are small molecules that, when strung together into chains, form a diversity of proteins. For four decades, scientists have found a multitude of amino acids in some meteorites, the bits of asteroids that land on Earth. More recently, astronomers reported that amino acids might float throughout the cosmos, a belief resulting from their detection of the color signatures of glycine, the simplest of the amino acids, in distant interstellar gas clouds.

Some doubts remain about that claim, but if it is true, it would then not be surprising that when the clouds condense into stars and planets, the building blocks of life might be readily available there.

As for our solar system, meteorite data show that amino acids are present in its inner neighborhood, where asteroids orbit, but until now nothing has been known for certain about what might have formed farther out, where comets gather.

But on Jan. 2, 2004, the Stardust spacecraft flew through the tail of dust and gas of the comet Wild 2 (pronounced vilt two). Two years later, the probe returned to Earth, sending collected samples to the ground by parachute for scientists to analyze. Comets are thought to preserve material of the early solar system, largely unchanged for the last 4.5 billion years.

Within a few months, the Goddard scientists found glycine embedded in aluminum foil of the collecting apparatus. They had spent the time since then confirming that the glycine indeed came from the comet and not from contamination.

"It's not necessarily particularly surprising," Dr. Elsila said of her extraterrestrial glycine in a phone conversation Tuesday. "I would have been surprised if it wasn’t there."

Dr. Elsila and her colleagues were able to show that the glycine from the comet had heavier quantities of the isotope carbon 13 than what occurs on Earth. They also detected a second amino acid, beta-alanine, but the quantities were too minuscule to confirm.

The findings were presented Sunday at a Washington meeting of the American Chemical Society and will be published in the journal Meteoric & Planetary Science.

Donald E. Brownlee, a professor of astronomy at the University of Washington and principal investigator of the Stardust mission, said the discovery indicated that the chemical reactions that produce glycine, and presumably other amino acids, occurred throughout the early solar system.

"That means production of amino acids is fairly common," Dr. Brownlee said.

That had not been a foregone conclusion, he said. Some scientists had suggested that the chemical reactions might have required warm and wet conditions that existed in early asteroids but not comets.

- NYTimes.com

poll: news comedy gurus

2009-08-18T03:11:53Z

View Poll: Stewart versus Colbert

exactly

2009-08-17T00:58:04Z