There goes Brew…

I love patronizing Brew Urban Cafe.  Their coffee is great, baristas Marcus and Jen are wonderful people, and I was pleased to support a local business instead of that huge corporation.

Unfortunately, Brew’s owner doesn’t believe in handwashing.  While waiting for my iced americano she came into the store with the baked goods (fabulous foods from Gran Forno) and began unboxing them.  When I asked why she didn’t wash her hands, she gave me a dirty look and held up the food-service tissue she had in her hand.  She told me that she was using a tissue, so she didn’t have to wash her hands.  I said that using a tissue doesn’t take the place of washing one’s hands.  She got angry and said that she didn’t touch any of the pastries bare-handed (which is a lie.)  She was so angry that she didn’t finish unboxing the pastries; she left the store in a huff.

I didn’t get a chance to tell her that the tissue she was using was handled by her daughter.  The very same tissue that the girl took out of the box immediately after wiping her nose with her hands.  Ewww.  Just like her mother, the daughter didn’t wash her hands.

In addition, a couple of weeks ago, the owner’s young son came in to the shop, on his own, with the pastries.  Just like his mother, he proceeded to unbox the pastries without washing his hands.  Because he was holding a tissue, it was clear that he remembered that he should use one.  However, he had not learned that one needs to pick up the pastries with the tissue, not just hold it in the free hand while plating the pastries with the unwashed and un-tissued hand.

I suspect that the owner got so mad because she knows I’m right.  Why else would she get angry?  Hasn’t she heard of the recent MRSA infections?  Would she want to go to a food service business where the workers don’t wash their hands?  Would she be happy with the “but I’m using a tissue” response?  We all must wash our hands to stay healthy, especially before handling food.  I’m absolutely shocked that a mother, with young children, who owns a restaurant, wouldn’t be on top of such basic hygiene.

The myth of christian charity.

Flamingo Road Church (a South Florida mega-church) recently closed a soup kitchen that they ran in Hallandale Beach.  According to the church’s spokespeople, the church closed the food program because none of the volunteers were church members.   

What?!

Hmmm…despite the need for the food program, the church closed down the operation because no one in their church is xtian enough to volunteer to feed the hungry.  So, the volunteers that did staff the food program aren’t good enough for Flamingo Road Church?  The fact that food was getting to the hungry wasn’t reason enough to keep the place open?  Oh, jeebus would be proud!

The church claims that the food program will reopen at some point in the future.  I guess that’ll be once they can brainwash enough of their flock to do the work.  A Flamingo Road Church apologist says:  ”They are doing this to make it ten times better. It is hard to make it better while the ministry is goingo [sic] on. It is going to take a break to come back better than it ever was before.”

Yeah…while the hungry people are starving to death, they can comfort themselves with the knowledge that the church just needed a little reorganization.  Well, at least this shows that faith based initiatives don’t work.  A non-faith organization would not stop helping the needy due to such a ridiculous notion.  Oh, wait, I get it now…the hungry people aren’t xtian, and Flamingo Road wasn’t successful in shoving jeebus down their throats with the food, so they closed up shop.  Of course, it’s all so clear now.

Those Flamingo Road xtians are clever.  They told a big lie so that the “volunteers” would look bad, not the church.  Well, I’m sure that the people who depended on the food program will understand Flamingo Road’s decision.  I wonder where in the xtian magic book of lies it says, “Ye who do not succumb to jeebus shall not receive food from xtians!”

Those pesky abominations!

Monday’s episode of Jeopardy (which I watched last night; ah, the joy that is TiVo) included a category called “Biblical Abominations.”  Normally, I hate it when a category that’s based on the bible is included in the game.  However, I figured I would enjoy this category as I assumed it would hint at the hypocritical behavior of xtians.

Homosexuality is the ”abomination” xtians repeat the most often.  They love to quote passages from Leviticus that say, supposedly, homosexuality is evil.  I’ve always wondered why xtians are so hellbent against homosexuality when there are plenty of other abominations, i.e. sin, that they freely commit.

To my delight, none of the Jeopardy answers had to do with homosexuality.   Instead, the Jeopardy writers included the abominations of eating shellfish, and the ban on anything to do with bugs, eagles, incense and Egypt.  Wow!  Egypt is an abomination?  Tut would have been so proud.

So, despite the abomination that is shellfish, I’ve never encountered a xtian eschewing a lobster or a clam.  In fact, I’ve even seen ads for church sponsored clambakes.  Likewise, I’ve never heard a xtian parent scold a child for committing a sin by playing with a caterpillar or a ladybug.  Oh, and what about incense?  Don’t the catholics love to swing around their purses full of incense during mass?  They should be going straight to hell for that.

Furthermore, xtians claim that the US is a xtian nation because the “founding fathers” wanted it that way.  (Uh, that’s a big lie.)  Nonetheless, the symbol of this great xtian nation is an eagle.  Ha!  Eagles are an abomination!  Ooh, those xtians who covet eagles are sinners! Since it’s in the bible, it has to be true.  Right?

When did xtians decide which abominations are worse than others?  And how could they do that?  If god said something is an abomination, it can’t be changed just because some xtians choose not to obey the word of god.  It’s not rational that xtians are so against one supposed abomination when they freely engage in other abominable behaviors.  Isn’t an abomination is an abomination?

My UFO is bigger than your bible!

The bimbos at The Today Show poked fun (hmmm…they never giggle when a  neocon talks about jeebus) at Dennis Kucinich because of his comment about UFOs.  It’s just like NBC (except for Countdown with Keith Olbermann) to run with fluff, instead of covering the real news.

During last night’s debate, Kucinich implied that chimpy is going crazy, and he called for chimpy’s impeachment.  Hooray!  But the NBC bimbos didn’t even allude to Kucinich’s great statements.  They, along with the rest of the mainstream media, have adopted the mantra of chimpco:  if you don’t talk about it, it didn’t happen, and if you repeat a lie enough, people will believe it did happen.

Chimpy’s last press conference is an example of this neocon chicanery.  Chimpy had the gaul to say that Congress has been wasting time.  Everyone at the black house, except for idiot chimpy, knows that this is the busiest Congress since 1978.  But they want the ”amuricun” people to think that Congress is not working.  Talking heads pillbaugh and o’fetish will pick up chimpy’s talking point, and then the 27% will write it in their bibles as another “truth.”

So, Kucinich is portrayed as a fool for his UFO comment, while chimpy “god talks to me” gets another pass.  Oh, I yearn for a government full of politicians who see UFOs rather than those freaks who hide behind their bibles.

IKEA Voting

I went to IKEA on October 28th for my first ever visit to the iconic chain store.  IKEA Sunrise (which is not in downtown Miami, as is depicted on the IKEA website) opened on October 17.  As I thought that I had given enough cooling off time for the eager crowds, I was taken aback by the number of people waiting in line to enter the store.  I won’t dare to estimate, but it’s true that I couldn’t see the end of the line.  Once the store opened, the place was so jammed with shoppers, it was nearly impossible to look at any of the merchandise.

While waiting in line, I thought about people waiting in line to vote.  Despite rampant reichwing patriotism, US citizens use so many excuses not to vote.  Furthermore, if any “hurdle” is put into the mix on election day (e.g. a long line, rain, cold, traffic) many US citizens choose not to vote.  But here we waited (for over an hour, standing in the South Florida sun, with no shade) for the store management to open the doors.  One woman said she had driven from Orlando just for the privilege of visiting the store.  She admitted that she had come to the store the previous evening, but gave up her quest to get in after waiting for three hours.

People camp out at stores to wait for the release of new products.  They will sit outside in the rain, snow, and frigid temperatures to watch sporting events.  But the same people will use lack of time and inclement weather as excuses for not voting.  Oh, the irony of it all.

Since people don’t mind waiting in line for something “good,” perhaps we should put polling places at popular stores.  Better yet, let’s tie elections to special events like product releases and sports games.  Would thousands of people still show up to a sporting event if they knew they would have to cast a vote before entering the stadium?

People should be thrilled to wait in line to vote, no matter the weather or time constraints.  If it’s OK to ”suffer” for sports and consumerism, why is the same not true for voting?  Only when it’s too late, will most Americans realize that they were too busy shopping while they should have been exercising their right (and duty) to vote.

Sagging = Screw me

The young guys who wear their pants with the waist just above their knees do so because they want respect.  They claim that people who disapprove of their “style” are “haters.”  They think that “sagging” emulates the tough prison culture and a kiss-my-ass attitude.  In reality, it’s a humorous trend because it looks ridiculous and uncomfortable, but also because of the inherent fallacy.  The guys sporting the bagging pants don’t understand that their style really means that they’re ready for anal intercourse.  I doubt these self-described “gangstas” and “thugz” would continue wearing their pants so low if they knew that it means they are telling the world they are ready to be dominated.  The irony is astounding.

I don’t agree with the recent action that some municipalities have taken to ban “sagging.”  While the style is stupid, it doesn’t affect anyone but the wearer.  Furthermore, in a free society, we can’t dictate how one wears clothes.  How is wearing pants low any worse than wearing a bikini or a thong at the beach?

Nonetheless, I do agree with the sentiment that has brought about these municipal ordinances.  The real problem of thug attire is that young men desire to emulate prisoners and gangsters.  How sad it is that our culture has devolved so far that young men look up to men who glorify murder, drug use, and rape.  It’s time for the rappers, hip hoppers, and the corporations that back them, to say “enough is enough.”  It  would be so great if Diddy used his Vodka money to encourage young men to respect themselves and honor their friends, families, neighbors, and communities.  If the young men don’t want “haters” pointing fingers at them, they need to stop hating too.

The chimp in California

Chimpy went to California to survey the damage from the fires.  Why?  How did the victims of the fires benefit from that buffoon walking around for a photo-op?  He’s despised by the majority of citizens, so the reason can’t be that it was a morale booster.  I presume that the trip was for his own ego boost.  He thinks he’s so important; I have no doubt that he thinks he was helping out the relief effort.

The more I think about it, the more disgusted I get.  The amount of money it cost to fly him, his staffers, and the secret service to California for the photo-op could have gone to rebuilding someone’s home.  Didn’t anyone in the stupid house think of that?  Oh, that would have been wonderful.  What if his talking head had told reporters, ”The president is saddened by the devastation caused by the fires, but instead of flying to California to show his support, the president would like the money that would have gone to the trip donated to the fire victims.”  Wow.  That would have been something.  Isn’t that the kind of action you would expect from a compassionate conservative? 

In addition to not going to California to help out the victims, dimwit could have assigned one of his drunk daughters to help coordinate the rebuilding effort.  That would have been so refreshing.  Sadly, the reichwingers will see chimpy’s publicity stunt as more reason to support the moron-who-was-never-elected-president.  The rest of us will see it as yet another illustration of chimpy’s lack of leadership.

Go Code Pink!

What a thrill it was to see a Code Pink demonstrator get right up to Condisleazy and call her out for her criminal actions!  I nearly squealed with delight.  Given Condisleazy’s record of showing any sign that she’s human, her reaction was predictable.  I know what she was thinking:  “oh, puuleease, really, get this trash away from me.”  Condisleazy’s so stoic; I’m positive it must turn on her girlfriend.  I’ll bet there was some good lovin’ in the House of Sleaze last night!

Of course, the main stream media didn’t cover the story.  Go ahead, do a Google search and see what you find.  I think most people in this country don’t know what happened.  If the media decide to run this story, I have no doubt that they will show just a bit of the footage to make it look like a deranged woman attacked Condisleazy.  They won’t show the other Code Pink members getting forcibly removed from the room, even though they weren’t involved in the bloody hands action.

It’s just disgusting what the media in this country will ignore.  Our country is falling apart, but the media continues to cover celebrity whores over the true state of affairs.  Sad, sad, sad.

Hooray to Code Pink!  I thank the Power of Pink for their efforts in exposing the chimpco lies.

Farther is not Further

My mind swirls with awe when I see or hear people using “further” when they mean to use “farther.”  It’s in print, it’s on TV, it’s in idle conversation…the further switcharoo happens so frequently that I’m beginning to think that I’m the target in some grammar joke or conspiracy.  Hey, take some time to notice; you too will think that you’re the only one not in on the joke.

Further is used so often in place of farther, I believe people don’t even know that farther exists.  The rules are simple; I just don’t understand why people have such a problem with the correct usage.

Use farther when specifying sequences in physical distance (e.g. Why Geese Fly Farther than Eagles)

Use further when specifying sequences in degree or severity (e.g. Further Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat) 

Lesson Tutor has a great page about the proper usage for farther and further.  

Should you get stuck in furthering your correct usage, here’s something to keep in mind:  Farther is far, not fur.

Wacko gems!

There’s so much crazy out there today, I’m feeling a bit woozy…

 Ark Building 101

Baylor University offers a major in Church Recreation.  Huh?  Do xtians find it hard to figure out how to serve punch and cookies?  There has to be more to it than that.  What do Church Recreation majors study?  Book burning?  Ark building?  I wonder if ‘running with the stations of the cross’ is an advanced course.

Baby Desperation

Some wacko couple in Florida was so desperate to have a child that they paid a woman to get pregnant (i.e. with her own egg) with the husband’s sperm.  The couple had a verbal agreement with the woman, but they did not enter into a contract with her.  Once the baby arrived, the surrogate decided to keep the baby.  Ooops.

If the couple was so desperate to have another child (they already have one child, born from a surrogate) why didn’t they adopt?  There are thousands of children waiting for people to take them in and provide them permanent, loving homes.  If someone is really so desperate to become a parent, how can that person neglect the fact that there are so many unwanted kids?  I am so tired of hearing about the self-induced anguish of infertile couples!  They complain about surrogacy, the pain of miscarriages, and the gobs of money spent on infertility treatment.  Who cares?!  Stop being so selfish and adopt!

War Trumps Kids!

Chimpy vetoed (10/03/2007) legislation that would provide $35 billion in healthcare for children.  Nonetheless, that fool has asked (10/22/2007) Congress for another $46 billion to fund his acts of aggression.  By vetoing the SCHIP bill, he let the nation know that he doesn’t care about sick, poor kids.  And now, less than three weeks later, we find out that his so-called war is more important to him than the welfare of children.  Oh, that’s nice.  What a hero.  He’s taken so much money from the treasury for his games (the chimpco idiots don’t even know where it all goes) and kickbacks to his friends, but he doesn’t have the heart to help kids.  Disgusting.