Self-Ordered Time Out

So Esther's Wasn't Quite Like This

It seems that with the beginning of each new semester my brain begins to boil and I slowly start slipping away from reality.  Just like that girl from The Bell Jar, only without the mental hospitals and sexual insecurity.


As the weeks press on I become more and more stressed.  And the more stressed I become, I become that much more cranky, pessimistic, cynical, and snarky.  (These may however, just be the side-effects of majoring in Political Science.)  


I find that in order to maintain some degree of sanity and to keep myself from snapping and running down unsuspecting Freshmen in my SUV, is to allot myself some personal time.  Yup that's right.  Time management is the only way to keep from going completely bonkers.  


So like clockwork, each semester I put myself in a self-prescribed time out.  And it's no fun.  I mean, it wasn't fun when I was a kid, why should it be fun now?  It may not be fun, but it is necessary.  I dedicate my time to my studies.  Which again, is no fun.  


As much as I would like to be your friend and "do stuff," I apologize but I just can't.  I'm stuck in time out until April and can't get permission to get out of it early.

No More "Obama Bucks"

A friend of mine just got a new job after having been unemployed since July.  She'd filed for unemployment while she looked for a job and luckily she qualified for it.


She recently began interviewing for a well paying job.  The hiring process involved three separate interviews and I wished her luck along the way, hoping she would get it.


Well, she got the job and I'm really happy for her.  She made the announcement that she got the job on Facebook and I couldn't help but notice that a friend of her's whom I do now know, made a comment to the effect of "No more Obama bucks!"  Thereby suggesting that my friend was taking a dishonorable handout.  And not just any handout, but a handout from an African-American.  The horror! The horror!!


Are some people so put-off by a black man holding the position of President of the United State of America that they perceive accepting unemployment benefits as accepting "dirty money?"  Apparently, yes.


My friend did not need to lose her job, but she did.  She was wrongfully terminated and I was thrilled when I heard that she'd be receiving reparations in one way or another.  But to insinuate that her accepting of unemployment is "dirty" because Obama is the current President is particularly repugnant.

You're Just Plain Awful

I don't know about you, but there are certainly some television characters that are particularly repellent.  Here are my selections.

Angela Moore

Everything was fine for Cory and the gang on Boy Meets World up until Angela showed up and ruined everything.

Cindy Brady

I mean really, no one is this stupid.  She makes the entire Brady Bunch look bad.

Detective Robert Goren

Sure he's good at his job, but he's so bloody annoying.

Danny Tanner

I'm so glad he was not my dad.  There were just one too many "sit on my lap" talks on Full House to stay in the comfortable zone.

Ross Gellar

I mean seriously, did anyone like Ross?  

Betty Draper

Sure Don was never really good to her and you felt bad for her, but Betty is an awful, unsympathetic person herself.  She's temperamental and vain, not to mention she's a horrible parent.  


Betty Draper is without a doubt the least likable character on Mad Men, and we're talking about a show where hardly any character is likable.  Whenever she's on I can't help but think, "I hate you so much, Betty Draper!  How can someone so beautiful be so evil?!"

Evil.

Glenn Beck, You Are A Jerk, Not MLK Jr.

Glenn Beck is an unqualified, uneducated propagandist who indulges in psychobabble and fear mongering. 

Frienemies

"The less you know, the longer we stay in the fight."

Dr. Laura's Pity Party

Oh poor, poor Dr. Laura.  She thinks her First Amendment rights are being infringed upon because she used a racially charged, demeaning, and insensitive word.  First off, Dr. Laura, no one forced you off the air.  You chose to end your program.  Second, the First Amendment guarantees you the right to say what you please and protects you from being silenced by the government.  It does not, however, protect you from being criticized from other parties.

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Go, Mayor Bloomberg, Go!

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is right on the money on this issue.

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A "Return to Honor" That's Actually Pretty Disgraceful

Glenn Beck is claiming that he didn't know that 8/28/2010 was the anniversary of MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech.


And I'm calling him on his lie.


The most disingenuous and manipulative rodeo-clown in modern media is claiming to make the day a "return to honor."  Beck is making a mockery of King's legacy by doing this.  When it comes to Glenn Beck, the only thing that he really cares about is Glenn Beck and let's not forget that he's prone to making racist comments.  


It's just too bad that Beck has none.  The man has no credibility and hasn't a whit of honesty in him.  Trusting him is like trusting your newborn with a rabid dog.


But to end this post on a lighter note, I'd like to quote Patton Oswalt:  "If you realize Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally is a typical drive-time morning zoo publicity stunt, it makes perfect sense."

I'm A Mormon, and I Say Build It.

The question has been raised by numerous figures in the national media: Why aren't Mormons standing up for the Park51 project?  

Well I'm standing up for it and I say build it.  Not only will building the Cordoba House be an affirmation of America's diversity, it will embrace it.  It will show to al-Qaeda that we are above their violent rhetoric and hateful dogma.  It will prove to the world that we are not at war with Islam.  Building the Cordoba House will say to the rest of America, "We are moving forward as stronger, better people and we refuse to look back."

Mormon's should know the pain of religious intolerance.  We were forced out of three states (Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois) and an extermination order was even issued by Missouri Governor Boggs.  Why should we stand idly by and let Muslims be bullied?  Why should we participate in the persecution of a religious minority, being victims ourselves?  The answer is that we should not tolerate nor condone the hate-speech being employed against Muslim-Americans; just as we should not tolerate nor employ any kind of hate-speech.  

Mormons, who are commonly misrepresented in the media, should know better than to believe the lies flowing from the conservative contingent that attempt to smear all Muslims as "radicals" and "dangerous."  Mormons were considered "radical" and "dangerous," too.

I am deeply ashamed by Mormons in the media and political realm who oppose Park51.  Glenn Beck, whose rhetoric is already manipulative and repellent as it is, is probably the leading pundit in fanning the flames of anti-Muslim sentiment.  Former Governor Mitt Romney is a hypocrite for condemning the initiative, especially considering that he is the one who in 2008 tried to make the case that religion should not be a political issue.  And last but not least is Democratic Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, who caved when given the chance to defend Muslim-Americans' right to worship freely.  

As I have watched the drama unfold, I cannot help but think that Islam is now to America what Jews were to Nazi Germany.  They are being made a scapegoat for Americans' own intolerance. Americans are either being willfully ignorant, allowing ourselves to be devilishly manipulated, or we are just expressing our inherent prejudices.  

To not support Park51 is not only a blatant denial of American values, it is a betrayal of one of Mormonism's core values.  In the Articles of Faith, it is declared that "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

I'm a Mormon, and I say build it.

Suck It, Fox News

Is Fox News evil or stupid?  Let's call it a draw.

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A Poem

.....but not necessarily a good one.

They They They

Who are They?

They are not You or I

But We are not Them

They are not Us

To Them, We are They

He or She is not You or I

How I tire of They

Sister, You're Not Fooling Me

Saint Sarah  of Wasilla (that'd be Sarah Palin if you were wondering) is for some inexplicable reason an American phenomenon.  Her unmatched combination of ignorance and intolerance has been grossly misconstrued for patriotism.  Her unintelligible ramblings are regarded as sacrosanct by her fans and to disagree with her is equated with nothing short of treason.  


What I just can't wrap my head around is how she can be looked up to, respected even, by anyone.  


Her language is deceitful and coded.  When she says "patriot," what she really means is "only those who agree with me."  And when she uses the word "Americans," it is most certainly not inclusive.  She has no qualms about initiating and spreading lies; death panels being one of her most absurd.  For Sister Sarah, intelligence is a sign of weakness, for it is anathema to her.  She prides herself on being a huckster; being folksy and uninformed trumps being articulate and educated.


With the guise of a smile and under the pretense of patriotism, she: makes hostile attacks on her critics; dismisses her critics by accusing them of being biased and "out to get her;" uses wantonly loaded and dangerous rhetoric; blames others rather than taking responsibility for her (innumerable) shortcomings; seeks to divide Americans and intensify feelings of anger; revels in the celebrity status she receives from the very media she claims to oppose; quit her job as an elected official to seek riches and fame; claims to support modern-day moms but does not support positions that actually support modern-day moms; purports to uphold the Constitution all the while supporting initiatives to dismantle it.  This list is seemingly endless.  There has not been a villain so blatantly two-faced since....well, Two-Face.


In short, Sarah Palin is a hack, a phony, a liar, a hypocrite, and a fool.  To trust her makes as much sense as trusting an infant with a rabid dog.  To ignore her might be dangerous as well, but if nobody pays her any mind, will she finally see the value in having hers checked?

"You try to be so high and mighty

You act like you're cool as can be.

You may fool your brothers 

And all of those others

But sister, you're not fooling me.

You ride in your bright, shiny wagon

You think that you're something to see.

You may fool the locals 

With such hocus-pocus

But, [sister], you're not fooling me."

-Tom Jones, 110 in the Shade

Well Hello There

I'd like to welcome my new team members, Meg and Dan, to Don't Call Me A Hippie.  They are both intelligent and articulate people and I'm glad to have them.  They're both better writers than I am and I feel that they'll bring an interesting dynamic to the blog.  

I want them to know that they're free to post whenever they please and on whatever topic they choose- just don't make me look bad.  

All Kinds of Awesome

This poster for the awesomely awesome film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is, well, awesome.


I'm glad to see pop-art making its way back into movie posters.  

What Courage Looks Like

Mad props to Ted Olson.  I've gained so much respect for him in the past few weeks.

You've Got To Be Carefully Taught

Oh the lessons we can learn from theater....









Update: South Pacific will air on PBS tonight at 7:00pm. 

Some Thoughts on Courage and Fear

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear- not absence of fear."- Mark Twain

"It is curious- curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare."- Mark Twain

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but you sometimes do."- Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

"Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears."- Arthur Koestler

We Are All of These Things By Choice

I'd like to offer congratulations and my appreciation and admiration to the media and political figures who have bravely been defending the First Amendment rights of Muslims in New York City who seek to build a community center that will include a prayer room (in other words, not a mosque) two blocks away from the location of the World Trade Center towers.


Kudos to Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his brave defense of these people's rights.  Kudos to President Obama for lending the issue his support.  He does so courageously and with no apparent political capital to gain; it may be one of the bravest things a sitting President has done.


Kudos to Fareed Zakaria for returning an award from the Anti-Defamation League after they came out against the proposed community center.  (And shame on the ADL- change your slogan, jerks.)


Kudos to former Bush aides Michael Gerson and Mark McKinnon for breaking with the conservative mold and speaking out against the barrage of intolerance coming from their camp.  


And to those who are fighting this, I say shame on you. Or, in the words of Keith Olbermann, "how dare you, sir!"  The so called "patriots" who so strongly believe in the Constitution are fighting against the Constitution itself and they make a mockery of American values.  


Shame on the Christian groups who are so filled with hate.  Gandhi couldn't have been more correct when he said "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."


Shame on Senator Harry Reid for not supporting this minority group just because his loon of an opponent is against it.  (And further more, why does a Nevada Senate candidate's opinion matter in an issue pertaining to lower Manhattan?  And to take that further, why would you take Sharron Angle's opinion seriously to begin with?)


Shame on the GOP and the Tea Party for using this as a wedge issue.  Shame on them for manipulating peoples' fears and misconceptions.  Shame on them for preying on the ignorant and intolerant.


Shame on the politicians for trying to make Islam into the Communism of our day.  Shame on them for attempting to whip up nation-wide panic due to hysteria, paranoia, and Islamaphobia.  They should be embarrassed for playing right into al-Qaeda hands.  They should be ashamed for trying to make people fear "The Other."


Shame on the media figures for their disgusting attempts to paint Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as a radical.  


There are far too many people and groups who deserve the finger of shame wagged at them.  If you are against the rights of Muslim-American's to build a community center, you are against the First Amendment; You may be a citizen, but you are not an American.  


What so befuddles me on this issue is that I can't believe that we're actually having this discussion in the United States, in 2010 no less.  Clearly we are not the freedom-loving, good people we fool ourselves into believing we are; we are xenophobic, ignorant, bigoted, and hateful.  We are all of these things by choice, I might add.


I'm sure there are people I know personally who think that Muslims shouldn't be allowed to claim the same rights as their fellow Americans enjoy.  And I'm sure these people are disgusted by my views but to them I say: I'd rather be in the minority and be right on this issue than be in the majority and be wrong.

Yeah, I Hate The Free Flow of Information Too

Here is yet another example of the sheer stupidity of the Tea Baggers, those so called "patriots."  Apparently the flow of information across the Internet hurts freedom.  


Idiots.

The Big Straight Elephant In The Room

Well I had to bring it up eventually, so why not now?  Opponents of gay marriage are now arguing that Judge Vaughn Walker was not fit to see the Prop. 8 case because he's "openly gay" and therefore biased because of his sexuality.  But the big elephant sized hole in their criticism is that a straight judge would be unfit to hear the case as well because they would be biased due to their sexuality. 


But please, rather than bigoted, homophobic, poorly thought out, and hateful rhetoric, why not present a reasonable legal case against gay marriage?  Oh yeah, that's right, there isn't one.

A Confession

Admittedly, I am not a good writer.  I am quite capable of writing essays containing facts and original thought and argument, but the personal essay is something that I can never seem to get down pat. I can’t remember when it’s appropriate to use a semi-colon and I can’t remember if it’s one space or two that’s supposed to follow a colon. I use too many parentheses (probably because I think in parenthetical statements). Perhaps it’s because of the fact that my major (Political Science) and my minor (Legal Studies) require more technical writing skills as opposed to creative writing skills- actually, let’s just go with that.   All of this knowledge, however, does not prevent me from thinking that I am indeed a good writer and that I am destined to someday be a great one. It is this same conviction, I’m sure, that keeps Ben Affleck acting, Miley Cyrus singing, and M. Night Shyamalan directing movies.  So please, bear with me as a mangle sentences with too many commas and misused semi-colons.  

A Little Bit of Awesome

Vampire Weekend- Giving Up The Gun

Stop It. Now.

There is an emerging trend on Internet magazines in which authors, rather than writing articles, write letters to one another.  One of the biggest offenders is Slate magazine, especially in their recaps of Mad Men.  An entry typically begins as a standard letter, "Hi Shannon," then fills the body with what they think, and then signs off with something like "Until next time," or "Hear from you soon."

What's wrong with just writing the article like you're paid to do?  The authors are being paid to write commentary, not letters.  

Personally, I find this kind of writing to be sloppy and more specifically, silly.  (Although to be honest, blogging is also kind of sloppy, but I'm not writing for Slate.)  It's an annoying trend that needs to come to an end soon.  

It's Great, But It Sucks

YouTube, that mesmerizing website is all at once something great and something horrible.  It launched Susan Boyle into fame, but it also gave us Justin Beiber.  If you ever look around and wonder just what is wrong with modern culture, YouTube is probably the answer;it's like the red-headed step-child of the Internet.  Thank goodness we have Tosh.0, hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh, to surf the Internet and professionally roast the world's idiots.  


My biggest complaint about YouTube is not however its content, but rather the fact that I am forced to sit through seven minutes of buffering for a :43 second clip.  It's positively criminal!

Locke vs. Marx

Here's one of the papers that I had to write last semester for my Modern Political Thought class.  I got a B, but my mom gave it an A+.

Two of history’s most important philosophers are John Locke and Karl Marx.  Both made valuable and lasting contributions to modern political discourse and the way in which people think government ought to operate.  Locke is widely considered to be the father of liberal democracy; while Marx is the progenitor of socialism in its various forms.  The differences in their philosophies are not exclusively limited to the role of government; religion as a public and private matter is an important topic on which they each have opposing views.  Locke, a devout Christian, believed religion to be a private matter and that it does not fall under the realm of government; while Marx, an atheist, felt that religion was a hindrance to people’s political freedom.  In this essay I will explore the arguments for and against religion as put forth by John Locke and Karl Marx and determine what the proper role between religion and government and politics should be.

A Legal Hero

Long story short: Don't f%#@ with Ted Olson.

A Little Bit of Awesome

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Passion Pit.

The ArchAndroid

When I first learned that Janelle Monae's sophomore album would be based on Fritz Lang's monumental expressionist 1927 film Metropolis, I was intrigued.  Now that I've heard the album (several dozen times) I am obsessed.


The album, titled The ArchAndroid, is both daunting and engrossing.  It practically defies any sort of classification.  It weaves multiple genres together and seamlessly moves between them.  It sails effortlessly through dreamy Tin-Pan Alley ballads, to orchestral, to what has been classified as "Afrofuturistic," to funk, to hip-hop.  


It is ambitious in its reach and wide in its scope.  Monae has released an album that is meant to be listened to attentively.  Though for its many advantages, it is not without its faults.  Listeners will no doubt find a song or two to skip over.  All in all, however, the entire album is a cohesive work of art; it is a masterpiece in 18 tracks.  


Monae's voice is reminiscent of Dinah Washington and Lena Horne on some tracks, and on others, it is completely her own.  The 24 year old singer is a highly capable vocalist with superb control.  There is something altogether refreshing about her style.  


I know that the year isn't quite up yet, but The ArchAndroid is a serious contender for Album of the Year.

Bill O'Reilly Can Suck It

Once again, Bill O'Reilly proves that he's nothing more than a jerk and a bully.  So what if Jennifer Aniston wants to have a child on her own?  I'm sure that she's quite capable, I mean she played a mom for a couple of seasons on Friends, remember?.  And she's definitely set financially; she was #26 on Forbes' annual "World's Most Powerful Celebrity" list.  If she wants to have a child, then shoot, she should be allowed to have a child.  But O'Reilly twists what she said into something completely different.  Aniston basically says that times have changed and that options are now available for having children that previously weren't.  O'Reilly then somehow takes that to mean Aniston is telling young girls to get pregnant and kick the man to the curb.  Stop perpetuating your culture war, Mr. O'Reilly, it's annoying.


For further reading, Salon has a rather great piece on this, check it out.  

Lay off of Jennifer Ansiton, Bill-O, she's a national treasure.  

Destroy The Horcruxes

So, yeah, this may be taken from a WWII propaganda poster, but it's still kind of awesome.

A Non-Hippie's Hippie-ish Favorite Song

Welcome To Blog-land, I Said To Myself

After months of considering starting a blog, I have finally made good on my threats.  I'm not quite sure how to go about starting a blog.  What should the first post be about?  Should it be an introduction to what the blog will cover, or should it be an introduction to who I am?  For now, this will have to suffice; I'm bored with posting notes on Facebook and I'm sure my friends are as well.