A&E and Phil Robertson

Many people are saying that his(Phil Robertson's) freedom of speech was violated by A&E.  And to them, I say, no, it was not.  He spoke freely and A&E said, whoa, no, we don't believe that and we won't support you any longer.  It is no different than the Food Network separating themselves from Paula Deen some months ago.  He spoke in a crude, rude, and offensive matter about a specific group of speech and A&E said no.

And there are many others who are saying that he is being persecuted for his religious beliefs.  And the answer here is no.  Because, he's not being persecuted.  Persecution would be them refusing to air anything religious and firing him.  Just because he has religious beliefs doesn't mean that he gets carte blanche with hate speech.

And here's the biggest problem.  All of these people supporting him for the right to his Christianity.  Well, okay, but really, this is the speech and the beliefs that you support.  Because, if you do, you have to stop calling yourself a Christian.  There is nothing that Jesus hated more than those who were self-righteous and those who hated on anyone.
Check out this blog post, where Dan says everything just a bit more eloquently:
http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html

Facebook Chain Letters

Several of my cousins put up Facebook chain letters sharing information about new gang initiations and other things to help protect the people.  Here's the problem.  They are all, without a doubt, false.  How do I tell them that no, a little kid is not going to lead you to a house where you can get raped?  Or any of the other ridiculous they put up?

So, mostly, I just ignore those letters.  But sometimes, I'm like, you live in a town of 1000.  How many gangs can there be?

Christmas Holidays

This year is our year to spend the day of Christmas with my husband's family.  His brother is coming up from Kansas City, his mom from New York, and we are all supposed to be together.  But now, it looks like his brother has to work the day after Christmas, so they have to drive back on Christmas day.  Which means that we may not even be able to do a celebration with his mom and his brother and everyone else.

To make matters worse, my immediate family and my husband made our Christmas plans over a month ago.  And we made them around his mom's side of the family's normal Christmas plans, which are the day of.  But no, this year, they are like, but we do this other Christmas...but they haven't done that for a couple of years.  So anyway, now they are like, what you guys are going to be gone the weekend after Christmas?  The whole weekend?  As if, we should drive 2.5 hours for a day trip so that we can spend time with the mom's family.  Well, yes, Grandma, we are going to be gone that weekend.  Because, we actually made a plan.

So, now, we look like we are ditching his family, when we tried to accommodate them.

Glee- Gaga vs. Katy

I just read that this week's Glee had all-time rating lows.  It is well-deserved.

The costumes for the Glee Clubbers when they sang roar...well, there is no way to describe them.  They are kinda like Tarzan meets Blue Lagoon plus leopard print.  Yep.


How's that for awful?  And the story didn't help.  It was weak at best and cliche at worst.

Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, and Gay Rights

Orson Scott Card has been, in the past, very vocal about homosexuality.  In that, he argues that it is wrong and he was a member of the board of NOM.  He did resign in July of this year.  He's said some pretty bad things, but no worse than I have heard from any member of those organizations, be they leadership or a man on the street.

And now, people are boycotting Ender's Game, the movie, because of his politics.  Which is silly, because he didn't even write the movie, but was a producer.  Little more than an honorary one, I'm guessing.  Depending on the how the pay structure was determined, he has either already been paid, which is what a lot of people are boycotting for, or he is waiting to be paid a portion of the profits.  He was certainly already paid for the rights to the movie, which probably netted him several million dollars.


But here's the thing...when the Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality this summer, Card said that it is a moot point and stepped down from NOM.  He said that he is now the in minority and hopes that there is forgiveness.  So, what else is he supposed to do?  Are we to judge him forever on statements that he now says were wrong?  Where is his second chance?  And the worst thing is that the people judging him are those who say that gay marriage is right and to not judge.  Double standard much?

I think he deserves a second chance.  He deserves the right to say that he was wrong.  That he was in the wrong of history and now, he hopes to be forgiven.  Because that is what it is all about.  That is what the fight is for.  It is to change the minds of those who believe that homosexuality is wrong.  And if we don't allow them to change their minds?  What then?  We won't have change.

"God is so Good!" Or not...

A few weeks ago, my husband's cousin(R.) was in a bad ATV accident.  He had to be airlifted to the hospital and a few days were spent not knowing how bad the brain damage was.  It's still not known, because he has some mental health issues, so the amount of memory loss and other factors may never be known.  He also had a lot of fractures.  But he is walking and talking and leaving the hospital today.  And all of my husband's family, who are pretty religious(at least much more religious than my family), are saying things like "God is so Good" or "God's plan is amazing". 

So, if your god is so good, where was he/she/it when R. was on the ATV?  Where was he/she/it when R. crashed?  What kind of god is that?  That allows a young man who already has hardships to have an accident.  He may never be able to live alone now.  This young man may have to live with his parents until they die and then, then he'll have to live with family until he dies.  What kind of god is that?  If god were good, why is he/she/it only good in the aftermath, where was he/she/it in the before?  This is one of my biggest pet peeves about people and their god.  God was not good in the before, but oh, now that R is healing, he is good?  No.  Either he/she/it is here or he/she/it isn't.  And if you believe in God's plan, then why don't you talk about it always, as in: I ate breakfast, God's plan; I went to work, God's plan; my car broke down, God's plan?  Either God has a plan or he/she/it doesn't, but that means that God's plan is about everything, not just big things.  Because a plan doesn't work, unless the small stuff leads to the big stuff.

Here's the thing that really bothers me.  Do they really believe that by praying God will intercede for them, but not for the little girl dying of cancer down the hall?  What kind of good God is that?!?  Not one that I recognize.  Either God is good and intercedes for all, or he/she/it is some kind of jerk and only intercedes for those who pray the most.  That's not what the Bible says. 

I don't believe in any of that.  I believe in a God that is not present, that doesn't intercede, ever.  Because I can't believe in a kind and loving God that lets that little girl die or lets that boy over there live without his dad from age 4.  In order to believe in a kind and loving God, you cannot believe in one that intercedes for some, on the basis of prayer, but not for others.  Because that, that is a God who is vengeful.

Government Shutdown and My Ultra-Conservative Mother-in-Law

I am a liberal.  A bleeding heart liberal.  I believe in socialism.  I believe in government helping people.  That's me.

My mother-in-law is a conservative, possibly a libertarian.  She believes in limited government, but most importantly, she believes in Fox News and Bill O'Reilly.

So, today, she posts an article on Facebook bashing Harry Reid about the shutdown and she says, I hate how everyone is only blaming the Republicans.  As if, the Democrats looked at the bill the Republicans wanted and said, yeah, but see we'll only do this if we can pass the ACA.  But they didn't, they said, yeah, here, we will pass this not exactly great bill as long as the ACA, which was put into law over three years ago and is starting tomorrow(then), is still funded, because we have to fund it as the states are putting it into practice tomorrow.  They didn't hold the government hostage over a loss three years.  The Democrats have not repeatedly tried to repeal the ACA.  42 times.  Costing the American public time and money.  42 times they have tried to repeal the ACA and 42 times it has not been repealed.  So a few weeks ago, with a shutdown looming, they lay down on the floor and threw a tantrum.  A tantrum that has cost the American people hundreds of millions of dollars and it is only going to be more expensive.  This is not the Democrats' fault.  This is the Republicans' fault and to say anything else is to blatantly lie.

Gov't Shutdown

I keep checking CNN and MSNBC, hoping to see: Breaking News-They've Made a Deal.  But it hasn't happened yet...will the Republicans finally pull their heads out of the sand and look at the country they were hired to represent?

Pro-Life Cupcakes???

In my hometown, a group of kids baked cupcakes and handed them out at the high school today.  The cupcakes are to "celebrate" the birthday of all the babies who were aborted and thus, never got a birthday...Yep.  A little tenuous.  Especially if you are trying to convince high school students to be pro-life.

But here's the thing.  Is this even legal?  Can a school allow this?  I don't know.  I know they do things like see you at the pole, where they pray outside the school and that that is fine as long as it not run by any adults who are affiliated with the school, but what about this?  It might depend on the location of the people who gave out cupcakes, but I just don't know.

Here's the biggest problem with it.  It shames people.  It shames women, in particular.  It says, 'you know that really hard choice you had to make about whether or not you could have a child at this point in your life, well, it was a bad choice.'  No cupcakes for you!  It says to young girls, it is better to go through with a pregnancy, even if that pregnancy means that all of your dreams and your happiness and your success(most importantly) are put on hold.  Or never realized.  It says that children are more important than women.  It says that we, women, have no rights in regards to life. 

And perhaps more importantly, pro-life people don't talk about adoption.  They talk about abortion or having a baby.  As if, there are only two choices.

But the biggest problem with pro-life people is their ignorance and their egotistical behavior.  it is ignorant to believe that every woman who becomes pregnant will be a good mother.  It is ignorant to believe that every woman can support an infant, a toddler, a child, a teenager.  It is ignorant to believe that these women have no rights to life and to success.  It is egotistical to believe that all women across the nation have the exact same circumstances as you.  They do not.  Not all women can support a child.  Not all women can endure pregnancy.  Not all women can be pregnant and still have a job.  Stop looking at these women through your lens of life and starting looking through their eyes.  As Atticus Finch says, "Walk a mile in their shoes.[sic]"  Imagine, for one moment, that these women have a leg to stand on in the abortion debate and then, then tell me that you still believe that the only option is to go through with the pregnancy.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As everyone who pays attention to anything is aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Pro football players wear pink, they do tons of stuff with Susan G. Komen, PSAs, etc.  But, here's the problem, and it's a doozy.  In 2009, the latest year for data, over 40,000 women died from breast cancer.  If it is caught in stage 1 or stage 0, there are 100% survival rates.  That is, no one dies from breast cancer that is caught early.  Everyone knows about breast cancer, but where are these cases coming from?  Why are people still dying from breast cancer?  There are two answers: first, some people have fast spreading cancer that grows between yearly mammograms; second, the screening rates for women (the majority of breast cancer, although it does occur in males) are about 70%.  This means that 30% of women who should be getting screened for breast cancer are not.  So, instead of these walks, or research, for this month, all the money should go toward getting women screened.  If you know a woman, ages 50-74, tell her to get screened for breast cancer.  This is what will help end deaths.  This is what will eliminate the need for millions of dollars of research.  If we can catch all early stage breast cancer, think of what that the research money can go toward.  It can help increase the odds of end stage breast cancer survival.  Because, right now, there is too much focus on the middle stages.  Stages that should never have happened, because breast cancer is survivable.  So this month, I pledge to help educate.  I pledge to help spread the message, so that every woman is screened.

Glee's Beatles Tribute and Master's Project

First, I just received news that my newest draft was acceptable and that I passed.  I feel validated and much better about my work and my schooling.

Second, Kitty's voice sucks on Glee.   Too much autotune.  If they can't sing and can't act, don't cast them.  Also, I love Breadsticks, because I have lived in a podunk town where there are no or maybe one "fancy" restaurant.  Otherwise, it's obvious none of the writers have ever lived in a small town.  If Glee is supposed to be a parody, make it so, but otherwise, the Midwest is more important than the inconsistencies and unrealistic setting than they have made it into.  Additionally, a teacher would not be make the interim principal.  Because, one, they have long term processes and two, any school that is this big has to have a Vice Principal or other staff that is actually qualified.  Another thing, Sue doesn't teach anything other than cheerleading, right?  Um, what small school in the Midwest that isn't private can afford that?  None.  Jeez, do your fricking research Ryan Murphy...

Feeling Inadequate

On Thursday, I defended my master's project.  This had been a project that I'd been working on for over a year.  A project that involved a paper that had gone through three rounds of edits.  A project that was pushed back time and again because of my professor's vacations and lack of responses.  A defense that had been rescheduled because of my adviser's father's illness. 

That brings you pretty much up to speed.  Now, my oral examination went fine and I received the grade of a pass with minor revision.  My adviser told me that the main thing I needed to fix was to change some of the language to make it not a causal relationship.  Okay.  I can do that.  She also said that I needed to make the writing umm... better.  Okay, I guess I can try to figure that out.  But don't you think that she might have said something during one of the three rounds of edits?  Or maybe, during the month and half long period between my "final" edit and the defense.

Then, yesterday, I received an email stating that I needed to make the paper writing style more academic.  What the hell does that mean?  Am I using too many colloquisms?  Is it not written at a high enough level?  Is my writing style not advanced enough?  Is this throughout the paper or concentrated in sections?  Are there specific parts that are lacking?  Sounds like criticism that I can go off.  But nope, I just receive I need to make it more "academic."  Well, I'm sorry, but I have never received a score lower than a B on a paper.  Ever.  So, if my writing style isn't academic enough, then mightn't one of my professors in undergrad have given me a lower grade or asked me to change?  Or, even more likely, one of my grad school professors.  But no, from them, I receive critiques like this is the best paper in the grad or you missed two points out of 100.  So, now, I feel as if everything I've done is a lie.  As if, I was just passed along.  Maybe it's the opposite, maybe instead of being the top of my classes(with a 3.79 GPA for Grad school), I'm really at the bottom.  Maybe I'm just not good enough.

Government Shutdown

So, the House today proposed a bill that will avoid the shutdown.  The only thing the senate and Obama have to agree to?  Defund Obamacare.  Defund a program that will allow millions of people to get health care and many people to get off of Medicaid.  Yep, sounds awful.

So, there is no way that that bill is going to go through and who looks like the bad guys now?  The dems.  Because they support health care for Americans.  Because they support a bill that has legally gone through all areas of government, but that the Repubs simply hate.  Or maybe, it's because the Repubs hate Obama.

This current government sucks.

Abortion and the Woman's Right to Choose

There's an article right now on MSNBC about a Florida man who gave his girlfriend medicine to make her have an abortion, without her knowledge. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/10/20422793-florida-man-admits-he-tricked-girlfriend-into-taking-abortion-drug?threadId=3813273&commentId=78893370#c78893370

Many men are arguing that one, women trick men into having children and thus make them pay child support; or two, that this is just like a woman getting an abortion without the man's consent.

Let's address the first.  If a woman tricks a man into making her pregnant, in some cases, he will not have to pay child support.  For instance, if he can prove that she poked holes in condoms.  However, this is rare and unlikely.  Additionally, these people arguing that women do this, do they not have any idea what child support is and what it pays.  Not nearly enough for women to make profit in this matter.

Second, women are the ones who become pregnant.  Women are the ones called sluts for getting pregnant outside of wedlock.  Women are the ones who bear the physical, emotional, and social effects of pregnancy.  Men, they have nothing to do with pregnancy, unless they want to.  Until men are shamed by society, or equally, until neither are shamed by society for unwed pregnancies, women must be given more rights.  They must always be allowed to choose abortion, because women are the ones who bear the brunt of everything from conception to adulthood for that pregnancy.  Men are too often let off the hook.

Boy Scouts and Popcorn

My cousin, who's 12, is a boy scout or something of a similar ilk.  He's selling popcorn to raise money.  I, being uninformed about said popcorn prices, said I would buy some.  However, it's 40 dollars for 2 gallons of popcorn.  2 gallons are the normal size for popcorn tins, which normally I would price at 20 dollars or less.  I guess I thought that it would be like girl scout cookies, which I can afford.  I'm not sure I can afford a 40 dollar tin of popcorn.  Can I not buy it and still be a decent person?

In-laws

This last weekend, DH's cousin had a housewarming party.  During the party, I was able to talk with my aunt-in-law.  Yay!?  Or not.  I don't hate her or anything, but she is socially blunt.  It's her way or the highway.  And her way, not right that often...

Anyway, she was talking about her daughter's future in-laws and how, because they are wealthier, are uppity.  That's the word she used.  Uppity.  Uppity means self-important and arrogant.  Now, my aunt-in-law and the rest of that side of the family are solidly middle class.  Probably lower to middle middle class.  And to say that because R and A come from completely different financial and social backgrounds doesn't matter is ignorant and is perfectly representative of class differences in the US.  Lower middle class people refuse to acknowledge class.  And A and R will have some different in the future than those who are of the same class structure.  It's not uppity to acknowledge that.

But, here's the thing that really gets me.  P(DH's aunt) doesn't have the right to share that information about A's in-laws, especially not with people other than P's SO.  It doesn't matter what you think about your daughter's in-laws, because you will not interact with them.  So, if your opinion changes your daughter's, then you are poisoning her and her relationships.  This is the problem with in-laws.

Losing a ton-Late Update and various Misc

So, I do think that I got rid of the required 70 pounds.  I mean, I got rid of at least 20 pounds in books and probably another 30 pounds of clothes.  As well as some other odds and ends.  However, if we hadn't've been moving, I doubt I would've got rid of half the stuff that I did.  Oh well, I'll take success however I can get it.

So, today, my husband received a birthday card in the mail.  I asked who it was from and all he would say is someone, with this goofy patronizing smile on his face.  And then he said, you are always so curious.  So, I said, well, fine then, don't tell me.  But he always does this.  Anytime I ask about his mail and/or texts.  As if I shouldn't know this information.  Maybe I am curious.  Maybe it is more that I love him and I want to know about him, even the mundane stuff.  If I stopped asking, what will he think?  Will he think that I don't care or will he think that this is the way it should be?  Whenever I get a call or a text, he asks me about it.  So why can't I ask him?

Losing a Ton

So, my friend started this project, where you donate all the things that you don't need and throw out those things that cannot be donated.  In a week, her goal is to get rid of 70 pounds of stuff.  Since I will be moving soon, this seems like the perfect time for this sort of project.

Day 1:
Today, I went through my bookshelf and pulled out those things that are no longer read or necessary(like say, my organic chemistry textbook from undergrad, which was going to be useful if I went pre-med, but needless to say, I did not go to med school).
Easily 20 pounds of books went into bags and today, my husband is going to take them to Half-Price Books and get us some money.

Yay!

My Friend's Blog

My friend has a blog that is about her family and how her family grew into a family of three through adoption.  Now, they are looking to become a family of four.  She has some really cool merchandise that she is trying to sell on etsy.  Really cute things and all the money is being sent to her adoption fund.  If you are interested, take a look:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SpectrumOfAmber

Power Outage

So, on Friday, we had this massive thunderstorm system move through town and knock out power.  We all thought that this would be a normal power outage.  You know, the lights go out for a few minutes and then flicker back on.  Nope.  Power was out for over 600,000 people in the metro area.  This all started at Friday at 7.  There were tons of trees knocked over, some of them with their roots still attached.  It has been so wet that there was flooding, as the storm sewers were overloaded. 
My husband and I endured one night without power.  We live on the fifth and top floor of our building.  It was just so hot and stuffy up there, neither of us slept well.  So, on Sat, we went out to his dad's house and glorious power was up there.  We checked for damage and then decided that if power was still out at home, we would move into his dad's(his dad and stepmother are gone for the week).  Still no power.  Tons of places without power and so few were turned back on.
No power on Sunday at our place.
And now, it's Monday and we don't know if there is power, but Kevin has to work tomorrow.  This has long since ceased to be fun.  Now, we just play the waiting game and hope that power is up before his parents get back.

The Oklahoma Tornado

This is a tragedy.  A horrible, horrible thing.  People died, children died, people are hurt, people have lost their homes.  I will not deny this.

Here's my problem.  After a hurricane, people say why would they rebuild there?  Our insurance premiums go up, because people live in hurricane areas. 

In this town in OK, there have been 5  tornadoes in the last 15 years that have done significant damage.  One, in 1999, almost had the same path as this tornado.  That tornado killed 36 people and caused 1.1 billion dollars worth of damage.  The average cost of a tornado in damage is around $800,000 per tornado.  Here's an idea, why don't we mandate basements in areas where tornadoes occur?  The images show flattened houses with no basements.  To reduce physical damage to humans, tornado shelters and basements would go a long way.  But no one is suggesting that these people not rebuild, even though they have been hit 5 times in 15 years(some of them).  Why not?  What is it about tornadoes that makes it okay to rebuild year after year, but hurricanes cause suggestions of stupidity in homeowners?

Holocaust Deniers

Yesterday, there was an article on MSN News about an elderly German man who was arrested because they think that he was a SS Guard at Auschwitz.

I have never hoped that another person is a troll as much as yesterday, when this guy wrote that the Holocaust was made up and about 1 million people died from disease, but the gas chambers were false.

How do you just ignore history?  How do you just ignore fact?  How do people like this explain where those 12 million people went?

American Idol, Season 12

It's official.  I've stopped watching this season of American Idol.  Can you blame me?

I got tired of it after the "drama" of Nicki and Mariah in auditions and I stopped watching those.  I started again at Hollywood week.

But here's the thing.  This year and last year both had absolutely horrible production of Hollywood week.  You didn't see a third of the hopefuls sing.  By the time we got to Vegas, there were people we had never seen, not in auditions, not in Hollywood, and not in Vegas.  It's a singing competition show.  I want to see them sing.  And then America voted on the top 20, having seen some of them every performance, including their auditions and the rest, maybe one performance.  More than ever, this show felt less like American Idol and more like Producers' Idol.  In the past, the producers have manipulated America much more deftly.

The judges are reading straight from their notes.  The performances are fine, but come on, do we really need a two hour show for 8 songs?  I don't mind that it's two hours, but I want to actually hear them sing.  12 songs in 2 hours?  That would be 1 song every ten minutes.  That's reasonable, right?

So, goodbye American Idol.  Maybe next year will be better, but the ratings reflect more and more people like me.  People who have watched American Idol for years, but why bother?  There's no suspense.  The producers could just crown the champion and I guarantee, the champion will be who they want.

May Day

Growing up, our neighborhood had a May Day tradition.  Each kid would have some treats and drop them off at each neighbor(that had kids), ring the doorbell, and run away.  If someone chased us and caught us, they gave us a kiss.  I don't know how it started or when, but when we first moved into the neighborhood, there was a good 20 kids in the 'hood. 
I woke up thinking about May Day and so did so many kids from the neighborhood.  It's amazing how homesick and loved(at the same time) a day can make you feel.

American Idol Season 12

American Idol is down to the final four and surprise, surprise: they're all women.  Normally, this could be a cause for rejoicing, considering men have won every year since 2007.  However, at the beginning of this year, Ryan Seacrest opened the season by saying a woman would win.  The producers proceeded to stack the deck in Hollywood Week and after so that the men who made it to the top ten were boring and not really that good.  In order to help their cause even more, the producers have been feeding the judges lines, so that they put one singer down so much that anyone who votes is swayed by their choice.  For example, two weeks ago, they repeatedly said that Janelle had lost her touch and that she was going to go home.  Who went home?  Janelle.  A couple of weeks prior, they said that Paul Jolley was bad(essentially) and didn't belong any longer.  Who went home?  Paul.

Now, because the voting is America, it could be that they really thought that all the people they sent home were bad.  But, they kept Lazaro around for weeks, when he didn't have half as much talent as any of the girls and was not even equal to the boys.  This leads me to believe that they were really voting, because of Lazaro's sob story.   But, on the other hand, Lazaro was clearly going to be the last boy gone, and they would have used the save for any woman that was in danger.

The producers of Idol have the judges say exactly what the producers want.
Is it any coincidence that the ratings have decreased?  No, because the blatant meddling by the producers is boring and predictable.  Why watch the results show, when the judges(and Jimmy) tell you who is going home on Wednesday?  Additionally, Nicki and Randy are very annoying and unhelpful.  Nicki seems to think that appearance is more important than talent(and for her, that was the case), but for the majority of these girls, they have more talent already than Nicki...  And Randy, he just says the same old tired things.  He hasn't been a good judge since he was a foil for Paula and Simon of the early years.

So, Idol's sinking, and the producers seem to think that the same old formula will get it back on top.  No, let's have some real judges and real judging.  We want unpredictability, like in season 5 for Chris Daughtry went home in the final four results week.  We want current good music.  We want contestants that are judged on merit, not on what the producers pick.  When this happens, Idol may have a chance.

The Flu Vaccine

My aunt doesn't believe in the flu vaccine and doesn't really want to vaccinated her two kids(ages 11 and 7).  So, this year, she did a survey of her Facebook friends and asked them if they got the vaccine and if they got the flu.

Her results:
Out 306 of my friends who reported, 55 have been ill with flu-like symptoms this flu season (17.974%).
-151 were vax'd and 32 reported illness (21.119%)
-154 were unvax'd and 23 reported illness (14.935%)
-The vax'd group had illness at a rate 6.184% higher than the unvax'd group.
-Of the four respondants who are over 65, 3 of 4 were vax'd and 0 of 4 became ill.

She uses this to reinforce her anti-vaccine attitude.

Here's the problems with the study.  First, she only used risk difference for her results (that's the percent thing she has), which is just not that good of a measure.  A better measure is a ratio, which still shows the same results, but has the meaning that she attributed to the percentage.
Second, her study does not have any cases of confirmed illnesses.  So, for all we know, these people were all hit with a heavy-duty cold.
Third, the flu doesn't always show symptoms in the infected people.
Fourth, many people call stomach bugs the stomach flu(which is stupid, because there is no such thing and then people get it confused with influenza), which means that some of these that reported illness may be reporting food poisoning as flu.
Fifth, she collected no information about why those who got vaccinated chose to do so.  Are they at greater risk for the flu?  I know that my aunt has many friends who homeschool(as she does herself).  It goes without saying that if you aren't around sick people, you have a much lower chance of getting sick.  When did the people get ill?  If it was within two weeks of the vaccine, the vaccine didn't fail to protect them, they didn't have protection yet.
Sixth, there is no evidence that those who got the vaccine and those who didn't were roughly equal in demographics.  There is no evidence that these are control groups and treatment groups, but there does appear to be evidence that these people are not the same, as they did not get the flu at the same rate(which is what would be expected in the flu vaccine does not work).

There.  "Study" debunked.

SMASH

I love musicals.  I love Broadway.  I love Debra Messing.  All of this means, Smash was made for me.  And I like it.  I like the songs and the quality of the production.  Compared to Glee, there's not a weak story, or unrealistic one.  But, for some reason, its ratings just aren't anywhere close.  It's a far superb show, with better cast and better songs and better production.

So, check it out.

It's fun and real and dramatic and silly and sweet and serious, all without overwhelming the audience.

All Straight Prom

A group of students and parents in Indiana are trying to create an all-straight prom at their high school.  And, no surprise here, they are basing their arguments on Christianity.  Which is rather ironic, considering all the forgiving and inclusion that Christ taught.

Here's the best part.  One of the people interviewed is a special needs teacher within the town, who believes that all GLBT people choose the "lifestyle."  And, she says that when she talks with them, she tells them she doesn't believe in their choices.  Sounds like a safe space, for sure.

Here's the deal about prom.  Most people dance in groups to fast songs and with their partner for slow songs, of which there are much less than fast songs. 

But who cares?  Whether you believe that homosexuality is a choice (and who would choose it in high-school?  It's like saying, why yes, we'd like to be bullied and humiliated on a daily basis) or not, Christ was pretty clear about a few things.  That's to love one another and to not judge.  These people are ignoring both.

A Boy!

It's a boy! As we already knew, but who cares!?!  A boy named Samuel James Robbins.  I will call him Samuel.  Probably.

New Nephew

Today, at 5 pm, my very pregnant sister will be induced.  Which means that I will have a new nephew within just a few hours(hopefully).  I can't wait. 
This will be our second nephew and we will have a third within two months. 

Because Heather and Mike live so close, we don't really spend long hours at their home with them and their son.  So, it's kind've weird.  But Danielle and Derek live 3.5 hours away, which means that we will only really see them for weekends or longer.  Which means that we will really get to know their kid.

American Idol-Charlotte Auditions

American Idol-Season 12.  Sounds a little strange, eh?

Lots of changes to the show.  First off, new panel of judges(excluding that holder-on Randy).  Let's break them down, shall we? 
First, we have Randy Jackson.  Fairly dependable in that he votes through most anyone who's beautiful and can hit at least half of their notes.  Less than beautiful?  Good luck with him.  At least, that's what it feels like.

Second, we have Mariah Carey.  I was expecting Mariah to have some talent at judging, but alas, that seems like a false hope.  Mariah is easily comparable to J. Lo and Paula Abdul.  That is, she doesn't say anything important and doesn't offer any reasons for her voting, other than that the person was beautiful(see J. Lo).

Third, Keith Urban.  I expected to not like Keith Urban.  After all, he's a country artist and I'm just not a fan of country.  But he manages to say things to the contestants that are more than just buzzwords.  He actually critiques them.  Kudos.

And lastly, Nicki Minaj.  Now, I hate her music and I'm not really that fond of her as a person.  But, she leaves Mariah and Randy in the dust as a judge(except for the few occasions when the person is wearing matching eye shadow as Nicki).  She, like Keith, really tries to evaluate the person on the stage, rather than just make up words or call them dawg.

Now, let's talk about that "fight."   I'm fairly certain that a fight was not what we watched, but the producers must've felt that this was a better thing to show.  Here's what happened:  A girl came in, sang a song.  Nicki said she liked it.  Keith asked about her roots.  The girl replied that she had "done the country thing" and that she wanted a soulful country thing now.  Keith was a little offended that country was a thing you could do(but with singing, it totally is(see Taylor Swift)).  And Mariah and Randy essentially said that if she didn't say that she was going to sing everything with a country view, then they didn't like her.  And Nicki essentially said, now you've given her an ultimatium and this forces her to lie about what she really likes.  They voted the girl through.  Randy said that he has experience and he knows.  And Nicki got pissed and stormed off.

Here's the thing.  Nicki was right.  And Randy and Mariah were mean and patronizing to Nicki.  Even though Nicki is closer to an American Idol than either of them.  She literally came up through YouTube, for goodness sake.  At this point in the auditions, it is not important to know exactly what kind of singer each of these kids is going to be.  It's important to get the best singers, regardless of how well they know themselves.  That is it.  You can work on  the rest if they make it through.  That's what the mentors are for, right?

Anyway, a lot of my friends are mad about how immature Nicki Minaj was last night.  But here's the thing, it is not immature to walk/storm away from a fight.  Never.  Although, parents seem to think so.  But it is not.  It is mature to remove yourself from a situation that could escalate and to take a breath.

My Mother-in-Law, the Conservative

As you know, from my previous posts, I am a liberal.  Not just a liberal, but a discerning liberal.  You may wonder what this means and in this case, this means that I use data, science, and truth to form and back up my opinions.  This makes sense, right?

Well, my mother-in-law is a conservative and not just a conservative, but an ultra-conservative.  She probably believes that Barack Obama isn't a US Citizen or born here.  She shares things on Facebook that are ultra-conservative and she talks about ultra-conservative things.  This would be okay.  After all, I'm pretty much an ultra-liberal, right?  But her posts are all from this blog she reads.  Not even from Fox News, but stuff that hasn't yet been checked out by any sources and most of which, will never be.  Like this morning, she shared a post about how Obama signed an order saying that businesses have to show their political affiliations in their donations.  So, essentially, she thinks that an executive order is a bad thing here.  But, businesses that claim tax write offs have to say where they go already, right?  So, I'm not sure what this means.  But, now, even that site doesn't have the article.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that she does not use news sources, or even multiple blog sites, to back up her claims, just believes whatever she reads.  Which just means that she is trusting, but it sure is scary, when she believes that Obamacare is going to kill us all.