The 25 Most Un-American Reactions to the 9/11 Anniversary

Please. Gag me with 3,000 spoons: http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-25-most-un-american-reactions-to-the-911-anni

My main problem? The ignorance of society, and by that I mean stupid Americans. We aren't a Christian country; we are a country with a large Christian population. There's a difference.

The fact that people can take a day like September 11th and transform it into a moment of political bashing is just disgusting. Yesterday was a day of rememberance, and every American was grieving, all religions aside.

Please. Get your heads out of your asses, people.

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Crisis In The Horn of Africa

A great interview by Anderson Cooper:



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"Part of Satan"

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!

OK, so you aren't bashing. Good for you. Do you want a medal? How about a trophy? No. This isn't bashing. But it is close-minded, belittling, and ignorant. Being gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgender is not a disorder or a dysfunction, so STFU Michele Bachmann. Please. For all our sakes.



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The Cranberries - Zombie

I don't know what is with me and songs about protest/war lately, but I am seriously obsessed. So, naturally, I've re-fallen in love with The Cranberries's song, Zombie.

Take a listen:



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Dear Mr. President

How did I not know about this song earlier?


To quote Aaron Sorkin's Lewis Rothschild from The American President: "I'm a citizen, this is my President. And in this country it is not only permissible to question our leaders it's our responsibility!"





What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?


-E

Seriously, people?: "The Muslims Next Door"

Are you kidding me? Seriously?! I am one of the most accepting people out there, and this is just disgusting to read. Victoria Jackson - a former SNL actress - has written an article that just about covers all forms of hate and fear possible.


People like her MAKE me want to be a Democrat.

Check it out, if you can stomach a healthy dose of intolerance, racism, and homophobia: The Muslims next door

"Fear, after all, is our real enemy. Fear is taking over our world. Fear is being used as a tool of manipulation in our society. Itʼs how politicians peddle policy and how Madison Avenue sells us things that we donʼt need. Think about it. Fear that weʼre going to be attacked, fear that there are communists lurking around every corner, fear that some little Caribbean country that doesnʼt believe in our way of life poses a threat to us. Fear that black culture may take over the world. Fear of Elvis Presleyʼs hips. Well, maybe that one is a real fear. Fear that our bad breath might ruin our friendships… Fear of growing old and being alone."
- Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man

-E

Read My Rights, TSA

As a frequent flyer who has now been frequently violated by TSA, I feel like I should buy these to at least give them a little run for their money. Hey, who knows, maybe I'll get a chuckle or two in the process.

-E

Happy Election Day, New York!

It's true. The rent is too damn high.

Banksy Tags The Simpsons

Street artist Banksy took it to the 20th Century Fox studios for an October episode of The Simpsons, where he was given the opportunity to storyboard and direct the intro. My thought: how did he get away with this? More importantly, why did they let him do this? Honestly, I found it mildly offensive, that whole portrayal of child and factory labor and all.

Thoughts?
-E

Billy O'Reilly Is Crazy; The View: Case In Point

There are just so many things wrong with what Bill O'Reilly is saying in this clip, beginning with how he nose-dives into a discussion about 9/11. Word to the wise, Mr. O'Reilly, don't mess with the ladies of The View. So let's start with a brief, quoted, annotation:

"Listen to me, because you'll learn."
Just stop now. You are not a professor or some holier-than-thou figure, so get over yourself and your ego.

"Americans wanted to know what his (President Obama's) opinions are on the issue."
Screw what his opinion is. The President's job is to act as an unbiased party and make sure that the law is upheld. I don't care if he does or doesn't want the mosque near Ground Zero. The fact of the matter is, they have a right to build it there, and the President is protecting that right.

"70% of Americans don't want that mosque down there."
Show me the numbers. Show me that poll. I don't know if that is true, so even if it is - why is that? Someone explain to me, PLEASE, how building a mosque in Manhattan is "inappropriate."

"Muslims killed us on 9/11!"
I don't even know where to start on this one, because it is just straight out wrong. No. Muslims did not attack us that day. No. Just no. They were terrorist extremists that happened to be Muslim. Good God, man! Learn to have a little religious tolerance.

The ignorance of people really baffles me. Truly, it does. Was walking off set the most appropriate thing to do? No. But at least they had they stood up (literally) for what they believed in.

Immediately following this clip, Barbara Walters apologized for their actions, and the proceeded to give Mr. O'Reilly a good talking to about how HE was inappropriate. A peaceful discussion is all well and good, but when how long do you endure listening to hate?

-E

If You Don't Like It, Go Home!

equality |iˈkwälitē|
noun
the state of being equal, esp. in status, rights, and opportunities

-E

Maybe California Ain't So Bad...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/us/05prop.html

"SAN FRANCISCO — Saying that it discriminates against gay men and women, a federal judge in San Francisco struck down California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, handing supporters of such unions at least a temporary victory in a legal battle that seems all but certain to be settled by theSupreme Court."


I must say, hearing this restores a little bit of my faith in this country. Hopefully one day in my lifetime, there will be full legal rights for everyone.

-E

Shouldn't our President, oh, I don't know ... be in his office or doing work?

I like Obama - for the most part - I'd be lying if I said otherwise. I went to a freaking rally in Union Square on Election Night for crying out loud. But seriously? SERIOUSLY? He could take the time to hang out on a talk show but he can't go down to the boarders to help figure things out? I would be also lying if I said that I hated The View. Quite the contrary, actually. I even spent every morning last summer watching the freaking show! But still ...

I get that he has to keep up public appearances and make nice with the media, get a good face out there, yada yada yada. I get it. But there are a lot of things going on in our country right now that are a hell of a lot more important than his public image.

I don't have a solution for the boarder problem or the oil spill or the war. I don't know what needs to happen to fix things because whatever is going on in Arizona is unethical and obviously not working. But something needs to happen. Something needs to be done, and I'm pretty positive that our Commander in Chief chatting it up with the Chatty Four isn't it.

-E

What, what, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, TEXAS?!

Read this and, please, be disgusted. Texas GOP Goes Crazy

"In addition to this, the Texas GOP seeks to end the state's lottery, which provides millions in funding to public education; restrict citizenship to children born in the United States whose parents are citizens; end federal sponsorship of pre-kindergarten schools; impose a jail sentence on any illegal immigrant in the state; shut down all day-labor centers; cut off all bilingual education after a student's fourth year in a U.S. public school; legalize corporal punishment in public schools; mandate that evolution and global warming be "taught as challengeable scientific theory"; and demand that Congress evict the United Nations from U.S. soil and end American membership in the global body."

What era do we live in!?

-E

Oh hey, New York STATE.

So I have to go get one of these puppies this week because the state of New York hates me and wants me to give up my Virginia rights. Ok, so I ignored jury duty ... I didn't mean to! So now I have to go in and get yet another license photo and go through all of those fun shinanigans.

Here's to hoping I won't look like the crypt keeper this time ...

-E

Equal Rights for All!

"If you disagree with the homosexual lifestyle, why not overturn prop8 and make the gays get married, like the rest of us?"

-E

Devin & Glenn - Watch more Funny Videos

No Escape

No Escape, the latest installment in a documentary-theatre series at Dublin's Project Arts Centre, is interesting to say the least. By no stretch of the definition can it be labeled a play, but it isn't reality, either.

The documentary piece acted as an expose into The Ryan Report (for the non-Irish, it's an in depth investigation into child abuse in the church school systems). Not a happy subject, eh? In a nutshell, it was an evening over-stuffed with facts, data, and cold hard information.

I don't know if it's appropriate to say that I enjoyed the play, but it most certainly kept me thinking and engaged. The layout is very much a subjective one, where the slue of information will either affect or deter you. In my case, the over-innundation of facts made it all the more personal, conveying, intriguing. It made you feel suffocated, as if it would never end, and that is the reality of the situation.

On a production level, I have to say that it was flawed. The main actor flubbed his lines on more than one occasion, and for the most part I forgive it. I understand that it’s hard to memorize all of those details, but also - you’re a professional actor, man. Also, the “theatrical” detail of the cast writing on glass would have been much more effective if done consistently. I wanted to see every glass panel covered in dates and statistics so that the feeling of suffocation could be intensified.

At the end of it, I felt like I was watching a live episode of Dateline. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just simply not what I expected.