Spices. Really? Is that all?

I've heard of labels on food and cosmetics being vague, but what I saw this morning takes that to a whole new level. This morning, I got into a conversation with my mom about food, and it started when my throat began to hurt after eating a bunch of these garden vegetable Wheat Thins. I looked at the ingredients. The fact that it had a lot of artificial crap is no surprise to me, but my family buys a lot of that, because it's cheaper. I think maybe they miss the point when I say that I'd rather eat organic, but then I have no job at the moment, and I'm trying to save my money to get out of here, or something like that. But I noticed that I was having... Certain stomach problems... This morning, before I ate anything, and I think it was something in the pasta I had last night. So I asked her what was in it, and there was a lot of cheese. She also mentioned Italian seasoning, and so I asked her, "What's in the Italian seasoning?" and she gave me the container. I searched for the ingredients and I found them. All it said was "spices". Really? Is that all? Could you maybe be a little more specific!? All it does is make me wonder what the brand has to hide, when all they're willing to put on the label is "spices", of all things! I mean, is there Oregano? Basil? Garlic? It doesn't help that I'm having a bit of intestinal problems this morning when I don't even know what all was in the food I ate! It could have been in the seasonings for all I know! How does the FDA let that shit slide? They need better labeling requirements!

I have some crazy dreams...

So last night I dreamt I was in a classroom in what seemed like either a boot camp or a prison. Chris was there for some reason, but I remember walking up to a desk at the front of the room and handing in a sheet of paper. And then I said something...

"So, why am I being thrown in here without any sort of explanation? What is the meaning of this!?"

And the woman at the front said something about the government being suspicious of me revolting and causing a rebellion. And then she told me to go to dungeon 101a for some reason... I don't get the meaning of the dream. Maybe I'm feeling trapped. Maybe the dungeon is an embodiment of the way I feel about the course my life has taken. But it's not entirely untrue that I do want a revolution to happen, because I really, really hate society and its ills. I can't help but wonder how many innocent people have been killed by the imperialistic worldview that America carries out so enthusiastically, and I want it to change right the fuck now, before it kills more people! And it seems like the only way to do that is with a revolution...

For now, though, I might just donate $25 to the End:Civ project.

I'm convinced, there is no God...

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” ~Epicurus

The fact that I am alive right now is proof that there is either no God, or if there is he hasn't the slightest idea what the word mercy means.

I've had so many of my prayers unanswered. I wanted to give religion a try, but it's pointless, every time I pray to God, my prayers go unanswered. It all started when my parents wanted to move out of our house in St. Charles. I prayed to God that I wouldn't be taken from what I felt like, and what I still feel is, my home. All that happened was I was let down.

And then, I met Liz. I'd been crushing on her for a long time and we were supposed to move in together. I was going to find a job so I could help her keep her apartment. But every time something would get in my way. Sometimes it was even my family and friends. I knew that she was suicidal, and that's why I prayed that God would protect her and keep her safe. As usual, I was let down. And apparently her ex Reade followed suit, too, he was just as depressed as I am, if not more.

Finally, I just got fed up with everything. I prayed to God to put me out of my misery. So far, my prayer has gone unanswered. Yes, the fact that I am still alive means that my prayer has been unanswered, which brings me to the quote at the beginning of this post. I once watched a program about the teachings of Epicurus. Basically, he was a hedonist, but with the bad rap hedonism has, I should clarify... He wasn't evil, at least in my definition of what "evil" is. Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure, but Epicurus mused that the pursuit of pleasure is the only intrinsic good, and he found that in simple things like friends, knowledge, and virtue. He was also an ascetic. His school of thought is known as Epicureanism. I follow it to an extent; I'm not an ascetic and generally find bodily pleasure to be a good thing, possibly even sacred. But those 3 things, friends, knowledge, and virtue, are also things that I hold dear, and to lose one of my friends to social injustice makes me mad as Hell. But where was God when I needed him? Was he even there? If he was, why didn't he intervene? All I know is that I'm less afraid of death than I was before. I lost Liz, and when you lose someone like her, you've got nothing else to lose. Where were you, God? How could you let her die like that? Or am I speaking to a being which never existed? Perhaps Richard Dawkins was right when he wrote The God Delusion. The 2 television adaptations of it really shed light on what religion does to societies.

Part 1
Part 2

War On Drugs, The Prison Industrial Complex

I need to take a moment to be frank here... I am totally opposed to the war on drugs. I myself am neither a user nor dealer, but a very good friend of mine has been victimized by this so-called war. Well, I demand retribution! No one hurts my friends and gets away with it! I've posted a link to a movie I have been watching about the subject. Appropriately, it was made in what seems to be German, probably because you could never make a film like this in the U.S. So, here it is... War On Drugs, The Prison Industrial Complex!

Take this as a call to action, whoever may be reading this. Then you will see the true injustice of the "justice" system!

... What is this garbage?

I was browsing feministe.us out of curiosity, and I clicked on one of the links that was listed in the side entitled "Boycott American Women". Now, if you've seen me in real life, I'm like a bull; If something offends me I have this weird habit of not actually avoiding it, but charging at it as if it were some sort of matador waving a red cloth over my face. I just get too angry at this shit to leave it alone. And as tempted as I was to report it for hateful content (which is not unfounded, it is pretty misogynistic, as well as targeting women of a certain national origin), I decided to put Liz's philosophy into practice, and let it stay up, because it seems unconstitutional to me to try to censor him. Instead, I'm going to verbally rip it a new one. Here's the site for whoever may be reading this so they can follow along.

Anyhow, the first thing that should come to your mind is the word boycott. Dictionary.com defines it as;

"–verb (used with object)

1.

to combine in abstaining from, or preventing dealings with, as a means of intimidation or coercion: to boycott a store.

2.

to abstain from buying or using: to boycott foreign products.

–noun

3.

the practice of boycotting.

4.

an instance of boycotting."

Boycott, in the site's title, is used like a verb, and I can safely assume that the second definition fits it the best. That seems like it's implying that women are something to be used like, perhaps a robot, to cook and clean your food? A baby factory?

But of course! Look no further than the top right, where the blog's author writes;

"I am an American man, and I have decided to boycott American women. In a nutshell, American women are the most likely to cheat on you, to divorce you, to get fat, to steal half of your money in the divorce courts, don't know how to cook or clean, don't want to have children, etc. Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?

American women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least.

This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women.

BOYCOTT AMERICAN WOMEN!"

Let's analyze this for a moment...

"American women are most likely to cheat on you..."

I'd like to see the research on this one. Other than that, I have nothing to say about this.

"... To divorce you..."

You know, it could be the guy's fault, too! Men aren't perfect either, and sometimes it takes 2 to tango, if you catch my drift.

"... To get fat..."

Out of all these statements, this one bothers me the most. Are you saying that if the woman you love gets overweight, then you don't love her anymore!? Then is it really love or are you just looking for a trophy wife!? This statement is appalling! Furthermore, you know how many fat guys have girlfriends!? Double-standard much!!?

"... To steal half your money in the divorce courts..."

I honestly don't know what to say about this one, either. Again, I want to see research on it.

"... Don't know how to cook or clean..."

Okay, maybe this one is just me, but is he saying that the woman of the house should do all the cooking and cleaning so you don't have to? Um, isn't there some saying that goes something like "A woman's place is in the kitchen?" Because, as a man, I don't want to stand for that!

"... Don't want to have children, etc...."

Okay, maybe he's looking for someone who wants to have kids, but that shouldn't be used as an argument to say that American women are not worth dating in some way. I don't want kids, either, does that make me less of a potential partner? And maybe I DO want a woman who doesn't want kids, because they share that with me! (Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not currently dating...)

"... Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?"

So, is he trying to say that men who get involved with American women are dumb?Personally, I'd rather have partners who live near where I live. And that happens to be in America.But that's just my opinion, and you have your good and bad everywhere, so it's all up to the person doing the dating. But, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's throwing an entire group of people into a basket! (Okay, yes, he did say MOST American women, but by and large, it feels like that's what he's doing.) Furthermore, that statement indirectly implies that if you date an American woman, you're not intelligent. I see this as a sort of way of enforcing your values on your audience. Let's be honest, no one wants to be thought of as "not intelligent", or worse yet, "stupid". To use words like that in such a way to make anyone who deviates from this "ideal" feel like less of a person can be hurtful, and I think that is wrong!

Okay, that was long enough. Onto the next paragraph.

"American women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least."

Again, while a word like "generally" is used, he's throwing American women in one large basket. But most of these words can be used to describe a lot of people! It's too general! But what irks me especially is that last words; highly unchaste!

In this day and age, it's not unusual for more and more people to experiment with sex before marriage, because sex is a big part of a relationship. If the sex isn't good, you're probably not right for each-other. And again, it's mostly up to the person doing the dating. But, I am a believer in sex-positive culture, and to me, the word chaste represents an old-fashioned way of thinking which forbids sex for pleasure, especially if the person having sex is a woman! As an egalitarian and advocate of sex-positive culture, this bothers me!

Next, the final noteworthy paragraph;

"This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women."

Again, the word "boycott" appears, as if women are something to be used! Also, notice how he says that he feels American women are inferior to foreign women. Hmm... Doesn't that sound like something Thomas Jefferson wrote about the African Americans? He would have been called a racist now if he wrote that today, and it was then, too! But what this person is writing in his blog reminds me too much of that! (Not racist, but you get the idea.)

I'm not going to go into any further detail, as listing any of the individual posts would be exhaustive and pointless, considering they just state the same thing in different words, sometimes by other people who are just trying to reassert his argument. In any case, I find this blog extremely misogynistic, reasons being;

A) Objectification of women. American women to be boycotted, foreign women to be married. Probably subconsciously on the author's part, but it's still clear as day if you take a moment to read it carefully.

B) Gender-specific roles. Most notably, they are meant to be in the kitchen cooking, or cleaning the house. If they don't know how, they're worthless. (That's what he thinks...)

C) The double standard. Women can't get fat or else they're disgusting. But who cares about the men? Why? Because they're men! It makes perfect sense! (NOT!)

Please, men, don't be like this! You're better than that, right? Right!? Please don't prove me wrong!

Dropping Adsense.

Why? Well, the whole reason is because there are certain types of sites that Adsense doesn't approve of. I'll keep my account just in case I decide to pick it up later for something else, but for now, yeah, I'm dropping it.

That means there's gonna be some changes around here. For one thing, I won't be afraid to post pictures containing some degree of nudity here and there (No, this isn't gonna become a porn blog, there's plenty of those to go around.) Also, there's gonna be a little more swearing and shit. There! Taboo broken! Now that I have a little more freedom to type what I want, I'll let people decide whether they want to advertise on my site or not, and it most definitely will not be like shit you don't want to see, but actual stuff that isn't invasive and/or annoying. But this isn't going to be about money anymore, seeing as there's little point in that now. (the only reason that I enabled AdSense was for Liz, but she ended up getting evicted, anyway. For all the people who wouldn't help her, thanks for nothing, you really let me down hard!)

Also, I'm not going to go on a schedule. Screw schedules, if I feel like writing something, I'll write. Otherwise it will sound forced, and I don't want that to happen. Ever.

So, in closing, welcome to my new blog. I hope you enjoy it.