Once Upon a Dream

It's been a little while, and I do have opinions about things happening in the world, but I don't feel like writing them down. Instead I'm going to rant a little bit about plot problems in Disney's Sleeping Beauty.

1) Maleficent's Beef - The whole reason the queen of all evil puts a curse on Aurora is that she wasn't invited to the party? Talk about insecure

2) The fairies' plan - So the fairies come up with a brilliant plan to take the princess out into the woods and hide her from Maleficent. They do this. And it works right up until the very last day. So on the very day that the curse is supposed to happen, they take her back to the castle so that she can get pricked. What was the point of hiding her?

3 ) The fairies incompetance - They spend 16 years out in the woods not using magic, and when they start trying to make a dress and a cake, they can't even crack a couple eggs together?

4) Asleep - So that the people won't notice, the fairies put the whole kingdom to sleep, but as far as I can tell, Aurora spends about 2-3 hours asleep in the tower. They probably could just as easily said, "Sorry we're late. Fauna was constipated."

5) Aurora doesn't have a single word of dialogue after she finds out that she can't marry the nice man in the woods that wanted to take advantage of her. It's probably just as well, I think Merryweather had been planning on giving her the gift of intelligence before she had to switch to modifying Maleficent's curse.

Government Tastes Like Diarrhea

Alright, so maybe there are things that happen politically that can jolt me out of boredom.

I don't think I've ever been more upset by any political act than I am over this tax cut extension stuff.

RUbublicans: "Millions of people out of work? Families on the verge of losing their homes? Poor people with hardly anything right before the holidays? Extend unemployment benefits? Only if you keep the tax breaks going for me and my golf buddies!!! If you don't like it, watch the people STARVE!! SCREW YOU!!!"

Seriously, it makes me think I'll just vote straight ticket Democrat for the rest of my life. Republicans were all thowing little hissy-fits about reducing the deficit and cutting back government spending. But suddenly, when some legislation came by that might cut a little bit into the wallets of their campaign contributors, it was all "up yours, America!"

Not letting those tax cuts expire will increase the deficit by 700 BILLION dollars. At least I can rest easy, knowing that my children's future taxes will have gone toward the creation of a bustling economy and a productive, honorable government.

Bored

Is anybody else feeling a little bit burnt out on politics? I was really into paying attention to what was going on for a while there. From the election in '08 onward I was reading news articles, watching TV, tuning in to the first segment of SNL, arguing with my friends. It was fun.

Now I kinda feel like I used to feel about girls after going out on one or two dates with them. (I'm talking about every girl but my wife. Let's keep that clear.)

I would get all interested, notice things I like. Maybe I'd even mention those things to people I knew. Then I'd get a little bit invested and get to know her a little bit and I'd realize that she just wasn't worth the effort to pay attention. They were usually dramatic and boring at the same time. If they were pretty, they were also annoying. If they weren't pretty, they had other issues.

Maybe politics and I need to "take a brake." Kind of like Ross and Rachel. Maybe in the interem, I'll hook up with...oh, I dunno...soap operas? I've flirted with reality TV before, that could be amusing. Business? Or maybe I could concentrate on my homework. That could be interesting...

Divided We Fall

I wish I could feel optimistic about this last election. I think the idea of divided government is hypothetically good. It keeps one side from pushing through a whole bunch of policies that may not be good for the country.
However, in our current political climate, where compromising with the other side brings you the label "traitor," I'm afraid that having a divided government just means that even less is going to be accomplished. Two years from now, both sides are going to be pointing accross the aisle and saying, "All our problems are THEIR fault! They said they'd fix it and they DIDN'T! And they're friends with CHILD MOLESTERS!"
I'm in a bad mood.

My Cute Nerd

This is my daughter:

She's five years old and she just started kindergarten last month.
As you can see, she's a very attractive young lady and she's bound get even more attractive. That's worrisome all by itself. But beyond the troubles that come upon good-looking individuals in our society, I have the additional worry that she's very, very smart. She's already reading. She's not doing chapter books yet, but she can sound out the majority of words in the picture books we have, and she's even reading road signs and advertisements from the car.
The other day, my wife and I went to a kindergarten planning meeting. The teacher talked about some of the "learning activities" they would be doing at the class parties. Things like "walk around on the pictures and then when the music stops, say the "beginning sound" of the picture.
I worry that my very smart little girl is going to stagnate. If we keep helping her improve at home, she'll only get that much more ahead of her classmates and be even more bored. She's already one of the youngest in her class so I don't think that bumping her up a grade would be good for her.
I heard a guy on the radio talking about a documentary he did about our education system. While he was making it, he recognized that he was part of the problem by taking his wealthy, smart kids to a charter school. The public schools, being underfunded and poorly staffed also end up with the students who aren't as academically gifted. Average test scores go down, and teachers get blamed for poorly performing students.
We can't afford to put her into a private school, but even if we could, is that the best thing for her? Is that the best thing for the system? Do I care about the system more than I care about her academic success? I plan on continuing to be an active participant in my daughter's education, and I don't doubt that she'll be a top student in her class. I just want for "top student in her class" to be something she can be proud of.
By the way, it makes me pretty sick that the teacher's union voted against disbanding. They would have gotten DOUBLE their salaries. That would have given so many good people incentive to become teachers. Yes, it would have made it easier to fire crappy teachers, but you people are teaching my kid. If you do a bad job, I don't want you there.
I would have been a teacher if it had paid enough. I would have been a good teacher, and I'd have been able to spy on my daughter in high school to make sure she wasn't hanging out with any unsavory goons.

Burning the Koran

This jerk, Terry Jones is getting quite a bit of attention. In case you don't read or listen to anything but my blog, he's planning on burning the Koran on September 11. Mostly, people are voicing their concerns that this act will make radical Muslims really upset and it will put the United States and her troops overseas in greater danger.

I think this man's actions are insulting and disrespectful to millions of peaceful followers of Islam.

However, I find myself a little bit annoyed by the media coverage. I seem to recall a little while ago that there was some upset over Proposition 8 in California. Lots of evangelical Christians voted to outlaw gay marriage and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of the more vocal supporters of the bill. During and following the vote, I heard that numerous people burned the Book of Mormon, a text that is every bit as holy to me as the Koran is to a Muslim. They also vandalized Mormon places of worship.

Why didn't this get more press? Why didn't talk shows and pundits sit around tables and talk about respect for other's beliefs?

I'll tell you why. It's because no matter how many Book of Mormons you burn, a person of my faith is not going to strap a bomb to him or herself and kill a bunch of innocent people in "vengence." Members of the Mormon Church use legal, democratic processes to state their beliefs. If other people don't like those beliefs, and even if the democratic process is overturned, Mormons will not pull out guns to change people's minds. They will keep living and doing as they believe without destroying.

So really it comes down to the violence. This hateful Terry Jones fellow might be getting a call from the president of the United States asking him to reconsider because a small minority of horrible Muslims have made the whole world afraid. How sad that hatred and death have become the language of religion.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Terry Jones went ahead with his burning of the Koran and no reporters or cameras were there to document it? Let him burn it all by himself and let Al-Qaida wonder if they'll get into heaven by blowing him up.

That "Gay" Thing

About this whole "gay marriage" thing:

I believe that homosexuality is a choice. Come to think of it, I believe that ALL sexuality is a choice. I do believe in God, and looking at the human form, I think His designs for the species' procreation are fairly obvious.

I also believe that there are variations in humans, genetically, hormonally, and socially that make some of them more prone to abnormal behaviors. Are these behaviors contrary to what the God I believe in intended? Yes. Are these people accountable for these behaviors? I don't know. That's up to Him.

But now to return to marriage. Should these people, whose love for one another is undoubtedly very genuine much of the time, be allowed to get married? Do two guys giving one another rings somehow diminish or nullify the commitment I've made to my wife? I don't think so. Will their marriages be valid in the eyes of my God? I doubt it, but I also believe that other religions aren't completely valid in the eyes of my God. That doesn't mean that people shouldn't be allowed to practice them.

I'm much more bothered by people smoking or swearing or wearing immodest clothing around me than I am by same-sex people holding hands around me.

So as I'm writing this, I'm finding myself convincing me to disagree with the vast majority of people that practice my religion. I don't care if gay people get married. I don't agree with their lifestyle, but I don't think their lifestyle should be restricted by the government. I find it interesting that the same people who are screaming that the government needs to back out of their lives in regards to taxes and healthcare are screaming for it to stick it's big foot into the lives of others.

My religion and lifestyle isn't exactly what the rest of the world calls "normal." In fact, one of its tenants is that we "claim the privilege of worshipping God according to the dictates of our own conscience. We afford all men the same privilege. Let them worship how, where, or what they may." Does that tenant extend toward letting people marry who or what they may? I don't know, but I'd rather allow other people more freedom to be different if it means that my freedom to be different will be maintained.