Feminism 101

I found a blog whose whole purpose is to educate people about the basics of feminism. it seems to delve into both feminist cultural theory and real-world issues. You may want to take a look if the subject is of any interest. It gives a basic introduction to some of the issues that are dealt with by feminist activists in an easy-to-understand way. It also points to other places where further detail can be found about what ever issue is under discussion.



The writer seems mentally stable, and has a good sense of style, so it gets my seal of approval.



I also recommend Pandagon, which explores the same kind of issues and is often quite funny.



One of these days, such things as "feminism" will become obsolete because all women everywhere will be treated as if they are real people as well. Until that day, these kinds of sites should be required reading, especially for the friendly neighborhood chauvinist pig.





Technorati Tags: feminism, blogs, pandagon, feminism 101

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Atheism

I recently listened to an audio book of Richard Dawkins The God Delusion. I've been an atheist for about two years now, ever since I took a class on Biological Anthropology, where I found out that everyone who ever told me that there is no evidence to support the theory of evolution was either lying or wrong.

Before reading this book though, I'd never heard anyone argue so adamantly for the non-existence of god or the veracity of evolution. I found the concept interesting, and the book engaging. Even before I became atheitized, I despised religion, mostly because of the misery and sheer stupidity it has wrought on the world. In Dawkins, I found someone else who felt the same way. For me, that is a bit strange, as even the few non-believers I know refuse to take a stance against belief.

However, I do find that Dawkins is a bit mean spirited at times, and I can't help but feel a bit awkward associating my own thoughts with his. But, quite possibly, I sound just as angry and cruel to those who don't share my views, and a few that do. It can be very irritating to be told that I'm being "culturally insensitive," when I talk about how I can't stand Christian beliefs and the silly rituals that go along with those beliefs.

Honestly, that may be true. But I was raised to believe that crap, and so I feel like I've earned the right to criticize and ridicule. They certainly have no problem returning the favor. In fact, they've badgered and brain washed so many people into believing this crap that they've completely tied up the American political system, and convinced 45% of the American population that the earth is less than 10,000 years old.

My point is this: sure, I may be kind of a jerk when I say that god isn't real and we evolved from vaguely ape-like beings and that you should just get over it, but I don't know how else to handle it.  When someone tells me that "evolution is just a theory," or that we are "too complex to happen by chance," I want to punch them in their (easily) reducibly complex eye. I'm being kind by not doing so. Take that as a gesture of good will and deal with it.


Technorati Tags: science, scientifc theory, epistemology, intelligent design, atheism, evolution, natural selection, irreducible complexity, ID, IC, Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, biology, biological anthropology, young earth creation, stupidity

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Invisible Bigfoots...feet...whatever

According to this guy, Lawrence Livermore Labs has several "bigfoots" in captivity. In fact, in the 60's and 70's, it was fairly common knowledge in the East Bay that this was the case. The thing is, you can't see them! Why? Because they spend most of their time in the fourth dimension! Occasionally, they will come into our dimension as orbs, but they tend to be shy, I guess.



I was listening to Coast to Coast AM earlier as I was driving. There was a caller who claimed to have thrown away every single reflective thing in his house because he believes his reflection was going to kill him. It was pretty great, I must say. Anyway, I got home and I wanted to keep listening, so I went to the website. Unfortunately, you have to pay to actually listen, so I browsed the site a bit instead, which is how I found the bigfoot thing.



I really find this stuff entertaining. These people who talk to ghosts, and aliens, and invisible bigfeet amuse me. I just don't understand them though. Do they not find the real world interesting enough that they have to believe these things? Sure - the government probably does some experiments in Area-51, or some other facility, but chances are they have more to do with stealth technology then they do extra-dimensional beings. And, according to quantum foam theory, there really may be other dimensions, but that doesn't mean bigfoot goes traipsing from one to the other.



The world is a cool place. Just look outside. Walk around a bit. Talk to somebody who isn't in your head. Go to Japan or Bulgaria and see even more. You'll soon realize that you don't need invisible monsters to keep you interested.





Technorati Tags: paranormal, bigfoot, quantum foam, aliens, area 51, coast to coast, george noory, art bell, lawrence livermore, berkeley, east bay

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Golden Globe Winners

When the Golden Globe nominations were announced, I complained that this year lacked the excellence of last. While I wasn't quite wrong, I should have held out for those last few movies of the year before rendering my final judgment. This year did lack a Cache or Match Point, but it did have Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth. However, the Hollywood Foreign Press seems to have failed to notice, so it seems my cynicism was justified, at least in part. I really don't understand how Babel, a great movie, don't get me wrong, could beat Children of Men, an even greater one.



Oh well. I guess awards really are meaningless after all. After last years Oscar win for Crash, I should have figured that out on my own.





Technorati Tags: movies, cinema, film, oscars, crash, golden globes, babel

The fine art of Shark Jumping

"Jumping the shark" refers to that point in a TV series where everything just goes south. Remember the final season of the X-Files when Mulder was replaced by that other guy? Or on Enterprise when they went back in time and found Nazi aliens? Both of those are definitely shark-jumping points. Usually shark jumping involves the show's creators coming up with a bunch of really dumb ideas to try and reinvigorate a series, or they just come up with a bunch of ideas so bad that no one has ever tried them before. Turns out, the phrase comes from an episode of Happy Days where Fonzie literally jumped over a shark on water skies.



What brought this whole issue to mind was the last episode of Sleeper Cell's second season. Sleeper Cell is a TV show on Showtime about a FBI officer, Darwyn Al-Hakiem who infiltrates an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist cell. What is really great about this show is that the main character is, himself, a Muslim. The entire issue is dealt with in a much more mature fashion than anything Fox News would try to foist on the viewing public. The differences between true Islam and that of the terrorists are shown in detail. The reasons why terrorists become so hateful are explored as well, to a much deeper degree then "they hate our freedoms."



Then, after spending two seasons explaining how true Muslims don't target innocents, and don't go after revenge, Darwyn loses it, convinces the CIA to fly him to London, where he masquerades as a mujahadin, convinces the villain's wife to go with him, flies to Yemen, surreptitiously puts a GPS tagged satellite phone in her bag, gets brought to the villain's camp, where the tagged phone becomes the homing beacon for a missile. A homing beacon that the villain's wife is carrying. As if that weren't enough, Darwyn and his arch-nemesis then have a Rambo-esque shootout, leaving Darwyn with a few bullet holes.



Ridiculous. Not only was this whole segment stupid and over-the-top, it completely changed a) the show's entire storytelling dynamic, and b) the personality of the main character. I really don't understand how the creators could have lost touch like that. Sure the second season was a little lackluster compared to the first, but that's mainly because the first did such a good job exploring its themes that a second was unnecessary.



One day, all television and movie producers will learn that making things not suck is a really good idea.



Honestly though, that's probably wishing for a bit too much, even if it is Christmas Eve.





Technorati Tags: tv, television, sleeper cell, islam, muslims, happy days, fonzie, jumping the shark, terrorism

First post, and some comments about Fresno

Having used MySpace for a good while now, I've decided I'm not overly fond of the blogging interface. I also decided that I wanted to feel special. So, now I have my own website, sort of. I suppose that makes me just a little bit special. Considering it is free and all, I guess I'm not that special, but still.



Probably, this will more or less be like my MySpace blog, with me writing random crap occasionally and amusing/irritating a few choice people. In other words, it will be like most people's blogs, except for one key difference: I can spell. I also know not to talk in the passive tense, and I have a keen sense of hyphen usage. Plus, my vocabulary is fairly extensive.



Anyway -

As many people know, and a few others are starting to realize, Fresno is a pretty lame place. However, in the past 24 hours, It's coolness went up ten-fold. A new movie theater opened. This theater, the Criterion Cinemas 16, is operated by North American Cinemas. They have promised to reserve three (I think thats the number anyway. It's a nice number.) theaters for movies made outside of the Hollywood Studio machine. That is exciting news. What is also exciting about that is I never have to go to another Regal-operated theater again. That is fantastic. Regal has had a literal monopoly on Fresno theaters for two or three years. I'm happy to say that the movies they think I should be watching are no longer the only movies playing in town.



That accounts for only part of my increased respect for this hell-hole.



Tower Records went bankrupt last year. They have been slowly sliding into retail oblivion since then. That is good news- while the store may have had a 8/10 when it comes to selection, their prices left something to be desired. Everything was sold at MSRP. That is ridiculous. In the era of eCommerce, nothing should be sold at MSRP. It just isn't competitive. So now Tower Records is leaving us for good.



Thats not the good news. The good news is that it is to be replaced by something much, much cooler - Fresno's very own Rasputin Music. I used to work at the Berkeley store, and I can assure you, Rasputin's is orders-of-magnitude cooler then Tower Records ever was beating even the Tokyo Tower Records (the biggest record store in the world). Their prices are competitive with places like Best Buy, and they tend to have a much better used section, (though I won't promise miracles in that regard as they'll be limited to stock brought in from Fresno...ites). Selection wise, they easily defeat even the best stocked Tower Records. 9/10 there. They miss that crucial last point as they don't always order enough copies for the street date.



I found this out when I went to Tower today to pick over the corpse. Actually, my manager from the Berkeley store was there going through some stuff, so I talked to him for a bit. They should be opening around the end of February, so I look forward to that whole heartedly.





Technorati Tags: rasputin, tower records, fresno, new blog

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