False Advertising

So, I stopped off at Taco Bell the other night, on my way home from work. Long night, just didn't feel like cooking when I got home, and I wanted to try the new XXL Chalupa. Looked tasty in the commercials, and on the big sign on the store front and on the menu. Then I got my order, opened the box. Shell was all droopy, meat was about a third of what was in the picture, lettuce and such were almost absent.

Most of you will read this and just think, "Yeah, that's how that works, the picture's never like the actual item." We've grown complacent, fine with restaurants showing us a picture of something, and then taking our money and giving something far, far short of it. Not only fast food, but even many of the sit-down restaurants. And I may be alone in this, but when I go someplace to eat, my decision is influenced by not only the description but by the picture. I say it's time that this stopped, and I hope that you all will join me. Next time I go someplace to eat, and the food served falls that very far short of the picture, I will be taking it back to the counter, asking for my money back, and telling them exactly why. I will then send an E-mail to their corporate contact, telling them about. Maybe if enough of us do this, and they start losing the money, things might change.

Midgets

Yeah, kind of a random thought thread. Was pndering some things to do with one of my game designs earlier, things to add. Decided to add the trait "Midget" to one. Or maybe "Dwarf". And then the thought occurred to me that some might take offense. This was followed by not caring.

I support the right of any disadvantaged group to choose how they are called. I don't really have problems with that. However, I will call a midget a midget until they think of something to call themselves that doesn't make me giggle from irony. Because I see all these TV show titles focusing on them, and I can really only think the same thing: Any midget coming up me and getting upset, insisting that the term is "Little Person/People", will cause me to squat down to his level and look at him with a very serious look. I will then, in a slight Irish accent, AS IS MY ANCESTRY, say to this person, "So, you're insistin' you're one of the little people, eh? Well, my ancestors and my people have known about you for many centuries. I'm just wonderin', which type are you? Leprechaun? Elf, maybe? You're not quite big big and vicious enough to be a red cap. Your eyes are a bit big, maye you're a boggart? Naiad? Selkie?

"Or maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't choose to go by a title that has, for a couple thousand years, meant and included every other word that fucking offends you. Because if you're going to be dumb enough to use a term from my ancestors, I'm gonna include all the rest that go with it, pixie."

Long History of Abuse...

I am a bit of a hedonist. And I enjoy indulging in the pleasures that this world has to offer. And I get people telling me that I'm wrong because of religious mandates, and that things should not be indulged in. It usually ends up with me wondering and asking why these things would be in this world, and why they would give such pleasure and enjoyment, if they were not to be indulged in. This generally prompts one of two answers.

One is that, well, God didn't put them here, the Devil did. They were put here to tempt us, and lead us astray. You know what, this only works if one of two things is true. One is, the Devil is as strong as God, strong enough that God cannot stop him. In this case, a lot of the rhetoric just doesn't really work. The other way for this to be true is if God condones it, in which case he may as well do it himself. If I watch you kill a family, and I stand there and do nothing to stop you or report it, I have committed almost as bad an atrocity as you.

And then there's the worst one I hear, to explain either the original oddity, or the previous answer when I question it. "We're being tested". You know what? I have been in an abusive relationship. After it ended, I went and did some research, kust to help myself over and past it. It was primarily mental and emotional. Things like, being demanded of things I hated, or put into uncomfortable or painful situations, and being told afterwards that it was a test, to see if I really loved her. Told that I was worthless or useless without her. Et cetera. I also recognized my enabling behavior, such as thinking/saying that she should test me, or that she was right.

If you have to cause someone pain, put them in a bad situation, or dangle someone they'd enjoy in front of them, in order to test their love for you, that is not love. That is cruel, and abusive. It smacks of insecurity. And yet, the people that spout this claptrap will say that otherwise, without God, they are nothing. Sound familiar? I am not an atheist, or against belief in some form of creator. But this type of "morality" needs some serious reexamination, to say the least

Because I never claim to be "good"...

In fact, let's be honest: I often to refer to myself as evil, and/or wicked, or other similar terms. However, I just stumbled across some of these, while looking for one particular quote I liked, and thought I'd share.

"It's better to be good than evil, but one achieves goodness at a terrific cost." -Stephen King
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." -Blaise Pascal
"Those who forget good and evil and seek only to know the facts are more likely to achieve good than those who view the world through the distorting medium of their own desires." -Bertrand Russell
"Life - the way it really is - is a battle not between bad and good but between bad and worse." -Joseph Brodsky
"When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before." -Mae West
“Hear no evil, speak no evil - and you'll never be invited to a party” -Oscar Wilde
"Nature, in her indifference, makes no distinction between good and evil." -Anatole France
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.” -Steven Weinberg

Useless Advice

So, I was reading through a thread on Fetlife, a guy who was looking for advice, thinking he was being "too nice". He saw it as at least a potential problem in himself. Kudos for him, looking for advice and help, seeking self-improvement. But then there were all the replies that were only, "You have to love yourself first" or "Don't be a doormat", as the total of their post.

Why the fuck bother typing anything? Seriously. Particularly as someone who's gone through something similar, I read these with some annoyance. It's like standing on a dock, seeing someone drowning, and calling, "Hey, dude...you should get out of the water."

If someone's looking for help, and all you can think of is to spout stale platitudes and sayings...unless you can add something concrete or constructive, you would only be wasting your breath, and the other person's time.

Bumper Sticker

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

Saw this as a bumper sticker on someone's car. And it irked me, and the first thought to pass througb my head was that pontificating from an ignorant perspective just makes you seem pretentious. The "eye for an eye" phrase, from the passage of the Bible, was not meant as a cry for vengeance, but instead as a cry for temperance. In the time at which it was written, this was intended to mean that the punishment should match the crime. An eye for an eye, instead of the tradition of the time, which was a life for an eye. Personally, I'm thinking...yeah, "eye for an eye" thus seems more fair and just.

I support punishment matching a crime. Generally. I also think, though, that extenuating reasons be allowed for certain crimes.

Mmm, Cruelty...

So, the "Organic" and "Cruelty-Free" food craze amuses me. The Organic bit...okay, I can kinda see. But when it costs at least 66% more than the regular stuff, fuck that. "Cruelty Free" meats, though... Yeah, this concept is just ridiculous. Let me make this clear: This is an animal born and raised for the sole purpose of being kiled at the peak of it's health, and then chopped, sliced, and turned into food. If you think about it critically, raising a creature and making it as healthy as possible for the best yield from it's death...is cruel. Not smacking it, shocking it, starving it, overfeeding it, whatever, doesn't make it any less cruel.

I love my meat. I am not going to stop eating it, and I am a very far cry from ever saying that eating meat is cruel. There are damned few animals I wouldn't eat except in the most dire consequences, and those are the ones I know personally and those that I've been told taste repulsive. I just say, let's have some damned honesty. You cannot go to the store and buy "cruelty free" meat.

"Here you go, cow. A beautiful pasture. A doctor to help ensure your health and well-being. The best of treats and food. Kindness, pleasure and contentment. Happy? Ecstatic? Good. Now, hold still and ignore this ax..."

http://www.illwillpress.com/CFREE22.html

A Nice Harass

Tell me what seems wrong with this scenario, so I can tell whether I’m just imagining things. We have two employees of a random company, let’s call them Jimbo and Skippy. Jimbo’s talking to some coworkers while on break, just random conversation. In the course of discussing various subjects, Jimbo starts talking about some combat/fighting training he’s had. He’s able to discourse on subjects of violence, and injuring others, etc. Some other coworker overhears, is made uncomfortable, and reports it to a manager. That manager later has a meeting with Jimbo, informs him of the situation…and admonishes him not to do it again before sending him on his way.

Skippy is having a discussion similar in tone, but different in subject. Skippy’s conversation turns to sex. They keep it very low-key, almost clinical, calm and detached. More general comparisons of desires and experiences. Some other coworker overhears, is made uncomfortable, and reports it to a manager. That manager later has a meeting with Skippy, informs of the situation…and then informs him that he is fired, and will be hearing from company lawyers about signing papers saying that company was not responsible for his actions. In addition, everyone still employed by the company has to then go through mandatory sexual harassment training.

Seriously, what is wrong with this picture? If I were talking with a coworker about martial arts or other combat training, and the myriad ways to hurt someone, or poisons, or even vivisection, I’d be likely to only get a slap on the wrist at most. But discussing sexuality, something that gives so much pleasure to just about every human on this planet, even discussing it in only general terms, can lead to huge repercussions for even those not involved with the original discussion. And these problems can be caused by the most innocuous statements or jokes, and by someone eavesdropping or listening in on a conversation that they weren’t involved in. It seems like it should be the opposite way around.

Personally, I blame the myriad religions that teach that sex is something to be ashamed of and hidden away, so that any openness leads to offense, disgust, and/or embarrassment. One would think that it would be obvious by now that honesty tends to be better than repression.

The Type A Personality Weight Loss Program!

Guaranteed Results! No change in diet needed!

First, make sure to keep your regular job. Then add another job, at least part-time. The next step is to pick 2-4 long-term goals, and a handful of hobbies. Once you have all of these set up…work towards all of them with the energy and intensity to complete and finish them all early. Add in semi-regular workouts, to increase the burn. And remember, if you can’t do all of it…you’re a loser. If you’re not at least somewhere among the best, there’s no point playing the game.

Just try it, and watch the pounds melt off. And remember, I’m not just the creator…I’m also psychotic.

Respect

Today’s lecture, boys and girls, is on respect. Specifically, just a couple aspects of showing that respect for someone you know, and supposedly enjoy the company of.

This rant has primarily been prompted by recent events, but it’s been an ever-present issue of mine. If you have some issue with me, or really with anyone you know…SAY SOMETHING. Seriously, am I the only one who finds it disrespectful and downright cowardly to hear these types of things second- and third-hand? How little must you think of someone to not bring these things to them? To have some problem, but not be willing to tell it to the one person most central to it.

Or is it simple cowardice? I know I can be intense, maybe even frightening, and for most humans to confront me is probably something akin to a lamb trying to stare down a wolf. But when you have been asked to be forthright, to be honest and plain, to do otherwise seems to show no regard for my wishes, no respect for my wants. It shows that you don’t think enough of me to actually listen to what I want, and/or you don’t have enough courage to actually risk saying something negative.

Now, one more point. Repeat after me, boys and girls: Double standards are BAD. Hypocrisy is BAD. Getting angry at someone else for doing the exact same thing you did, in a like situation, is ignorant and selfish. Expecting someone else to hold to standards that you, yourself, do not is likewise ignorant and selfish. Granted, selfishness seems to be a great trait of the human species…but maybe you could at least be a little bit subtle about it, hmm?