I admit it. I was pwned by Donnie Davies.I first saw the video thanks to Sarah over at Two Headed Blog. The YouTube link she sent didn’t work, but via another link in the post, I found the website for Love God’s Way minitries. I began watching the video, and although I wondered at first if it was some kind of parody just based on how he looked, they lyrics began sounding like too many fundies I’ve heard. Like Fred Phelps and Ted Haggard. So once the chorus began, I could only stomach it for a short time before I had to stop the video. From what everyone has told me, I should have watched the whole thing, then I would have gotten the joke.

But I still question the motive. Is he making fun of ex-gays, fundies, or people like me who take things too seriously? Is he doing what Sacha Cohen does as Borat or is he really so drenched in the hatred and idea that homosexuality is wrong that he really does believe what he sings? When we are confronted with something so horrible and outrageous, we *want* to believe it isn’t true. Is that the case here?

I’m now in the “it’s a hoax, and a good one” camp, although I still have my eyes and ears open. Much debate and evidence for the hoax side is in the comments of several posts by Dan Savage over at The Stranger’s Blog. Donnie is denying it’s a hoax and still insists it’s all real, so I guess I’ll have to wait until his 15 minutes are up to hear anything conclusive.

Until then, if you haven’t seen it, go to the website and watch the video for “The Bible Says”, performed by his band Evening Service. There is also a new video posted in response to all of the attention. Watch it, laugh, and decide for yourself.

Technorati tags: pwned, fundies, homosexuality

What started out as just a poll on an online mom’s support community, turned into a reality check. The answers to the question “Hillary - love or hate her?” were not surprising in itself as most of the women who post to the community lean more to the right. There are a number of us left-leaning people, but definitely the minority. A few comments took me aback. I couldn’t believe I was reading them as a real answer to the question “Would you vote for a woman president?”“I would have to say personally I would never vote for a female president for religious reasons. I don’t really have anything specific to back it up, except that I believe that we are to be submissive to our leaders, and I wouldn’t expect a man to submit to a woman on that level.”

Oh. Your. God. Really? I knew there were some religious freaks out there who still believed in the subservience of women in marriage and life, but I honestly didn’t think any of them used the internet. I pictured them mostly in smaller communities and tight knit families. Home schooling their kids and keeping away TV, movies, and other things that could be seen as damaging to their beliefs. But to say we are to be submissive to our leaders…that sounds scary. Imagine what our country would be like if we, as a people, we subservient. Not questioning, not demanding justice or equality.

This was not the lone voice opposing a woman president though.

“I’m another that would have a difficult time voting for a woman president, but for different reasons. I’m not sure women are really capable of leaving emotions out of decision making and I think that can lead to poor decisions. Yes, emotions are important, but can get in the way of making fair decisions for the whole.”

And men don’t use emotions? What about the day-to-day decision making that woman makes as, I don’t know…a MOM? Isn’t it important to make fair decisions for the whole family? Wait, I’ll bet her decisions aren’t as important as her husband’s, so that’s ok if she gets all emotional about what to cook for dinner.

That’s what gets me about these women. They don’t think a woman should be president, yet they are doing what they say is the most important job, raising a family. Didn’t a mom raise those men to be president? Why is raising them ok to do, but being a strong leader isn’t?

Finally, the one sentence that floored me. There was no explanation, no rationale given. I can’t comprehend what this woman is thinking, let alone how she is teaching her children about equality.

“I’d never vote for a woman, simply because of gender.”

Yes, there are women out there today, in 2007, who think like this. Wow. Just…wow.

Technorati tags: feminism, 08 election

Two news stories have come out this month, one telling of a sixteen year old boy who was facing 90 years in prison for having pictures of underage girls on his computer, and another telling of a teacher who is facing 40 years because of porn pop-ups showing on the classroom computer.

In both cases, malware, spyware, viruses, and trojans were found on the machines in question.

Now, for those who have been using computers for a while, this comes as no surprise. You can’t hook up a computer to the internet without it getting infected, especially if it isn’t patched or running a decent firewall and anti-virus program. The average computer user, which the family of the sixteen year old fits, usually doesn’t install extra programs, or if they do, don’t configure them as tightly as needed, or perform regular scans for suspect files and programs.

What is sad is that since most people don’t understand how easy it is to become infected, or what the consequences are, more innocent people will end up like the two in the news stories. Even the police and investigators don’t know how to look through a computer and see if it had been used as a zombie to upload illegal images to other machines. Or even just something as simple as the teachers case, where malware causes redirecting of the browser and pop-ups to appear without any notice or interaction.

I know this is non-news to a lot of my techie/geek friends, but still a reminder to check your computer with any of the free and useful programs, like Spybot or Ad-Aware. Check for viruses, and use a decent firewall.

Of course this mostly applies to people using Windows. If you use a Mac you don’t need to worry as much. Linux users…I’d be shocked and demand your geek card back if any of this is news to you.

Technorati tags: pr0n, think of the children, computers

I’m so happy now that I’m a parent. I can now emulate all the other great parents I read about. As Logan gets older, I can avoid talking to her about all kinds of things and not monitor her activities. I’ll just let the schools teach her, approved curriculum by me. No sex ed of course! Then she will go off and have pre-marital sex. I also demand that the government make everything ‘child friendly’. No violence, sex, drug use, profanity, or anything that might offend me on any channel at any time, on the off chance she might see it. No video games like that either, I don’t want anyone snapping and killing her in a school shooting spree.

And when she gets on a computer, the internet better shape up, or I might sue. Just like these parents who are suing MySpace. I shouldn’t have to monitor what she is doing, track her URL history, look at her cookies, or know who she chats with. They should protect her, and everyone should be happy to give up their freedoms for it. She is the future after all!

(If you can’t tell I was being overly sarcastic, or agree with what I said, you need to get a brain.)

Technorati tags: think of the children, big brother, censorship

This comes from the that’s-a-stupid-law-interpretation department.

In Michigan, the second-highest court decided that if you have an extra-marital affair, that’s first-degree criminal sexual conduct. A felony that can put you in jail…for life.

Yes, now you too can be guilty of the most serious sexual assault charge by just screwing around on your spouse! See the overcrowding of prison first hand! If you do get out, don’t worry! The state and public won’t let you forget your crime as you continue to be reminded by enrollment in the Sexual Offender Registry! Now no matter where you move, your neighbors, your school, your employer…they will all know you are a sex offender!

There was a key word used though: penetration. My first thought was you could meet someone, make out, fool around, fall in love, set up a totally separate household, even have kids with In-Vitro, all without any penetration. A way around jail time! You’d probably still have a very pissed off spouse though, so don’t blame me if the plan doesn’t work out as you hoped.

Technorati tags: stupid, idiots

Via Wil Wheaton, I found the perfect analogy for Bush. He is Leeroy Jenkins. Kung Fu Monkey, originator of the post, is brilliant and still has me giggling.

I mean think about it. His team has a plan, discussed in detail down to the repeating 3 (of course), but instead of checking with them, he jumps up, yells a battle cry, and rushes deep into the enemy’s lair, getting everyone killed when they try to save him. Why hasn’t anyone seen this before…

For those not familiar with the Leeroy Jenkins phenomenon, see see the Wiki article, but most *definitely* watch the video. It never fails to make me laugh no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Probably because it reminds me of my team wipes in City of Heroes. Goddammit, Rev!

Technorati tags: bush, idiot, Leeroy Jenkins, geek humor

A new trend in schools that has started in several states is to send home an “obesity report card” with the kids. It is intended to inform parents that their child is overweight, however it is received with mix results both by the kids and by their parents.

As an article in the NY Times claims, some parents are outraged that the school is telling them how much their child should weigh. Some believe that their kids are average by local standards, so the official ones shouldn’t matter. Even the kids go from one extreme to another. A six year old barely eats because she believes she will get into trouble for being fat, while a 17 year old who wears a size 20, and was homecoming queen, doesn’t care what she looks like, despite being insulin resistant (often a precursor to Type 2 diabetes).

I applaud the self-esteem of the 17 year old. No way when I was in high-school would a girl her size even be considered for homecoming queen. I was a size 9, but felt like I was bigger than average. I would have killed to be that self confident. Even now, 20 years later, I still struggle with self image, as do plenty of women (men too, but mostly women).

But should the parents and the schools turn a blind eye to overweight kids, because said parents and their kids are ok with how they look? The health implications of being overweight can be very dangerous, especially combined with lack of exercise. The schools try to do what they can, but with limited budgets, very often healthy choices in the cafeteria are slim, if not non-existent. How can a child resolve the conflicting message that they are told they are overweight by the school, yet their choices for lunch consist of pizza, nachos, ice cream, cupcakes, hamburgers, etc.?

And speaking of exercise, many schools have been forced to limit or completely eliminate their physical education programs. With the focus on No Child Left Behind, it’s either get the kids up on their math and reading test scores, or face cuts to funding. Since NCLB doesn’t have physical health as part of its requirements, there is little surprise that PE is one of the first “extras” to go. There is more than one study on the impact of NCLB that discusses this very issue. One here with many citations, with another article making CNN.

Ok, so what are we to do? I am in no way advocating that the schools have any say in how to raise my kid. But I do want them to help by providing better foods and PE. Nutrition classes would be an added bonus. Even if a child doesn’t get healthy foods at home, or at the least eats too large portions, during the school year the kids would be provided alternatives, and be taught what is healthier for them. Even I don’t eat like I should all the time, some days not even at all. But the difference is that I do know what it can do to my health, and what I should be eating. A positive body image is all great and to be strived for by everyone, but when your health is in danger, there comes a point when something should be done. It’s not cool to be happy how you look when you’re lying in a hospital bed from a heart attack.

Technorati tags: obesity, children, health, body image

There is an article in the Seattle Times revealing how researchers are using a herd of sheep at Oregon State University to look at altering gay rams to not be gay. There is growing scientific evidence from all over the world that shows homosexuality is nature, not nurture, and researcher Charles Roselli wants to find out how that happens. He is focusing on hormones during fetus development, with results of one experiment pending until next spring when a group of lambs reaches sexual maturity. If his hypothesis is correct, the rams will be disproportionately gay.

There are many, many implications to his study. What happens if he is right, and sexual orientation can be persuaded in a developing fetus? Or at the very least develop a test that can tell an unborn child’s probability of being straight or gay? I could guarantee that some parents-to-be would be lined up, ready to take that test, or even influence the outcome. As curious as I would have been if such a test were available when I was pregnant, I wouldn’t have it done. I want my baby grrl to be what she wants. Whatever makes her happy, be it straight or gay, or some variant. I’d love her no matter what, although I would feel defensive and a bit sad that she would face such hate and discrimination from our society.

But why even mess with orientation, if it’s part of nature? Even a large exhibit in Norway’s Natural History Museum in Oslo called Against Nature? profiles how homosexuality is common in the animal kingdom. Hundreds of species exhibit the behavior in the wild. To say that God proclaimed homosexuality is a sin and abnormal, but then say He created all of these animals…ergo, didn’t God create homosexuality? Why would it be a sin then? It never ceases to baffle me how mostly rational, sometimes even very smart, people can throw logic out the window when it comes to beliefs stemming from religion.

On a related note, I wish human sexuality would stop being labeled in just such few terms. We are a complex species, with a range of emotions, thoughts, and feelings. A person shouldn’t be limited to just being “straight”, “gay”, or “bi”. A better description would be to use the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, which is an expansion of the Kinsey Scale. It uses a 7 point scale, which really does help cover the spectrum, and holds the theory that sexuality is fluid. It makes much more sense to me than saying everyone falls into 2, 3, or 4 categories.

Back to the study though. I am conflicted about my federal tax dollars that are given to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One location called the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, in eastern Idaho, has been quietly looking into sexual orientation, as it studies genetics, grazing, and breeding of rams. Incidentally, that station is where Roselli got the rams for his study. While I do think it’s good information to find out what we can about us as a species and how we tick, I’m afraid of what would be used with the information gleaned in Roselli’s study.

Too many people use their religious views on homosexuality to guide decisions that impact millions of people worldwide. If anything can be gained by studying sexual orientation in the animal kingdom, I hope it’s that being gay is a natural and healthy aspect of being alive. Life is hard enough, why do we need to focus on who people decide they fall in love with, or even just screw, to decide what kind of a person they are. Besides…it is a great vote of support to give marriage rights to all people!

Technorati tags: science, homosexuality