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There's an abundance of events to comment on, but first I feel I must take this time out to be thankful for life and it more abundantly. In light of such a sobering day of thankfulness on our horizon, it's always good to stop and acknowledge how truly blessed we are to live in this nation (or be living for that matter). And with every measure of blessing comes responsibility. It is my prayer that the coming year will see us embracing the fullness of what requirements exist for those who've been given much.

I could go on and on about all the things I'm thankful for (bacon especially), but these are just a few:

• I am thankful that God snatched me while I was young (16 to be exact)
• I am thankful for Jesus Christ
• I am thankful that I can freely read my Bible in public without threat to my life
• I am thankful for unconditional love
• I am thankful for bacon
• I am thankful for blue jeans that fit the right way
• I am thankful that for the next four years, I won't have to say "President Kerry"
• I am thankful for parents that love me in spite of my hellion-like tendencies
• I am thankful for bacon
• I am thankful for two younger siblings that cause me inordinate amounts of stress on an almost daily basis
• I am thankful for a Father who is not like my Mother (because I can only take one nut)
• I am thankful that PETA will never be able to stop me from eating and enjoying bacon
• I am thankful for computers (but not HTML, because to quote one of my commenters, "it is from Satan")
• I am thankful for good health
• I am thankful for bacon
• I am thankful that I have the functioning of all my faculties--well, most (my mother debates my sanity often)
• I am thankful for bacon
• I am thankful for DSL
• I am thankful for the Cosby Show
• I am thankful for hair on my head that grows without the aid of Rogaine
• I am thankful for shoes
• I am thankful for toothpaste and dental floss
• I am thankful for family--even my crazy auntie who embarrasses us all
• And I am thankful for many more things, but it's important to know, that I am really really thankful for BACON.

Everyone say it with me now, "BAAAAAAAACON!"

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Travel safely and don't forget to be thankful.

 

There is redemption yet! In a statement released by the NAACP, president Kweisi Mfume today "denounced critics of Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice who have resorted to the use of racial slurs and ethnic stereotypes."

Well Halleluah! (and I mean that) I stand corrected. I think Michael King's image is fitting for the moment. Since this is the day of unexpected happenings, maybe I should walk into my bank and attempt to make a one million dollar withdrawl.

Hey, all things are possible.

 

[Geek Factor ON////] If all goes well, I'll be attending two blogger meet-up events that are taking place in December: one in Seattle, Washington, and one in the other Washington (D.C.)

I'm hitting the road again and Lashawn Barber has already posted on the topic of a potential gathering. She and I and Avery, and anyone else in the D.C. area that doesn't have any outstanding warrants for their arrest is welcome to join us as we're attempting to plan some sort of get-together in a public place with lots of lighting and law enforcement and mase nearby.

Also, if you want info about the Seattle gathering, let me know as well. I believe plans for that are still in the works so the date is sketchy, and people are currently hashing out the details. [////Geek Factor OFF]

In other news, as promised, I have a special gift of appreciation for regular readers to be announced the day after Thanksgiving. I know, I know, the anticipation is killing you. But you'll be okay, really you will. Actually, I think I'm more excited about it than you'll ever be. Where's that geek switch again?

 

Next to the "SorryEverybody.com" site, one of the funniest and tragic aspects of the election aftermath has been the Liberals', but more specifically, the Democratic party's attempts at scrambling to patch together some sort of brand of morality that will appeal to the masses in 2008. I am going to assert two faults and debate me if you will. First, the idea of Liberalism--a philosophy that not only believes in the essential goodness of humanity, but also in the relative idea of individual freedom from restraint--juxtaposed with the concept of morality (which suggests clear boundaries) is oxymoronic (and moronic). Second, in their quest towards "appeal" via morality, Democrats are attempting to flesh out the elements of an idea they've been hesitant or unable to define.

Morality isn't arbitrary. This idea of "your morality" and "my morality" is antithetical to the concept of what morality really is. Morality is the assertion that there is a clear right and wrong. It's not relative; it's constant. It doesn't care if you came to this earth through rape or if you graduated with a degree from Harvard. Morality is no respecter of persons. Everyone is held to the same standard.

We have swapped this idea of morality for "good works". And yes, we do need good works. I've said it before, when it comes to making themselves look busy with community development and giving a care about "the people", the Democrats have the Republicans beat hands down. And this isn't necessarily a nod in the Democrats' favor as I tend to think that their brand of "community development" and "outreach" lends itself to secular humanism and the patronizing of the "lower economic echelon" of our society. Simply put, it's mostly ineffective and bent on treating symptoms and not causes. However, something leads me to believe that when we are forced to treat causes instead of symptoms, we are forced to deal with the moral issues that are the root of every major societal problem. Frankly, it's so much easier to just fill the pothole temporarily with asphalt in hopes that it will hold up through the winter.

In all their attempts to rally the country around this intangible "morality", it's no wonder why on a local level, so many of the Democrats' initiatives and levies fail to do what I feel our local government should be doing: empowering the people. Why feed people without targeting why they're hungry? I am baffled that year after year, many of our public schools continue to produce poor results and yet STILL get insane amounts of dollars allocated to them despite their failure to uphold any type of educational standards. What.So.Ever. When businesses fail, they shut down. When schools fail, they get more money to help them continue in their failure. Then again, failure is relative right? And what is "failure" after all but the burden of society to keep kids down. Let's waste time doing studies on how teachers who grade tests in red pen are shattering kids' self-esteem. Nevermind the fact that Jimmy can't read. Reading is highly overrated.

There has been a gross mis-appropriation of the words "in-alienable rights". Trust me when I say we want to be VERY careful when it comes to trying to contort our made-up values to the "Choose Your Own Adventure" school of morality. Both Democrats and Conservatives alike are guilty of attending such school. We pick and choose when and who is subject to certain ideas of morality, and only tout them it's convenient. Interestingly enough, the true test of morality isn't in front of others, but behind closed doors, when no one is looking. Government isn't an elite entity that isn't subject to any standard. Government is merely a collective of individuals, all with individual consciences, all of whom will give an account before God for their decisions.

So my open-ended question to anyone who understands the true philosophy of the Democratic Party is what is the Left's definition of morality and what or who determines right from wrong?

It should be taken into account that in the most basic form, the notion of "right" and "wrong" directly implies a lack of "grey areas".

Floating around the blogosphere, you may have seen "Brand Democrat", which is the brainchild of Mr. Oliver "Bill Cinton was the Best President of the last 20 years" Willis. Of the many phrases in his catchy ad campaign are,

"What Happens In Your Bedroom Stays In Your Bedroom. It's Just None Of Our Business."

and

"Call Us Crazy, But We Think Sick Kids Should Have Healthcare."

and my personal favorite,

"Our God Gets Along Fine With Your God. Or Allah. Or Buddah. Or... Whatever. Religious Tolerance Is An American Value."

If that doesn't sound like confusion, I don't know what is. The campaign is quite ingenious, I must say--twisting ideas and making them sound good. Typical. My editor at Seaspot Magazine articulated my thoughts on this matter with the precise amount of sarcasm necessary:

"To that end, the blue state herd is trying, furiously, to articulate some kind of coherent moral philosophy. And so far, much like a retarded monkey composing Shakespeare, they’re failing miserably.

No surprise there. This is a crowd that wants to articulate Right and Wrong as concrete definitions after spending the last 40 years telling everybody that Right and Wrong, were only Right and Wrong if it that was, like, cool with you, man, and if it was, like, totally not cool with you, then it must be, like, oppression, man."

I believe the Creed of the Modern Thinker is applicable to the cause of liberal morality:

"Everything is okay as long as you don't hurt anyone to the best of your definition of hurt, and to the best of your knowledge."

Poppycock.

 

This weekend, I attended a friend's wedding and spotted this young gentleman (who incidentally was very nice despite the tragic fashion mishap). As always, the identity of the victim has been preserved. For the sake of this discussion, let's just call our dear friend "Smokey" (as in the bear).

Is it a grizzly bear you ask? Is it your auntie's sofa? No, it's a man in a fur coat with a matching hat. Move over stripes and plaid combos, there's a new sickness on the block and it's called fake fur overkill. Can we say traaaagedy?

What will be said next is very important to take note of: it's not necessarily the wearing of the fur coat or the fur hat. It's the combination of the two--on a man. There's really no nice way to say this except that it's a mess. There are only two types of men that pull off that much fur: Sean "Puffy" Combs and Joan Rivers. Oh wait, but Joan is...well, anyway, you get the idea.

Somebody lied to this gentleman before he left the house when they said, "Yeah man, go ahead and wear the coat AND the hat. That outfit is HOT!" It can only be assumed that the culprit wasn't a woman. A woman would have said, "You look like a reject sugar daddy. Take that thing off before it catches on fire." Short of some gold "Mister T. starter kit" jewelry around his neck, he may well be on his way to a career as a crooked music producer.

Word to the wise, tone down the fur. You wear it; don't let it wear you. One piece at a time please. And remember, Smokey the bear says, "Only you can prevent forest fires."

I say we take his advice. Consider this a warning.

Past Fashion Faux-Pas:
- Gun Tights
- Stripey Girl
- Me Being Stripey Girl
- The Cowboy Boots
- The Pimp

 

A few Seattle bloggers (including myself) were featured in the December 2004 issue of "Seattle Magazine", a highly reputable publication, in an article by Matt Rosenberg titled, "Blog On!" It's a six-page feature and profiles five bloggers of different backgrounds and political ideologies. The bloggers hi-lighted are techno-guy Stefan Sharkansky, racial profiling victim Ian Spiers (a really nice guy), Andy MacDonald, journalist Dave Neiwert, Natasha Celine, and lowly ole me.

I'm featured on page six (in the linked document), and my mug on page four, on what was a reprehensibly bad hair day. And for love's sake, you'd think the magazine people would have the audacity to at least photoshop out the blemishes. Sheesh. My favorite words used in the article to describe nykola.com were "tart, brash, irreverent, outspoken and eclectic". Irreverent? Is it odd that I take great pride in being described that way? Ha.

Do read the whole article if you get a chance. I need to change it to a pdf, so bear with the image loading please all you dial-up folk (hint hint, dsl is better).

 

Oh Parent Where Art Thou (the remix)

 

I find this to be one of the funniest (and ill-informed) things I've read all week. Coincidentally, the following was left in my post about how we've permissively excused racially charged Condi cartoons because she's a Black Republican :

Buttersoul(at)hotmail.com

So I happened across you site thru the blogoshpere. I will do my best to convey the heart wrenching disgust I see here on your little corner of the blogoshpere. First, I'm going to tell you that I'm NYC raised black woman. My mother was not only a Black Liberation Army member but she is also a Vassar graduate. I myself have been raise all my life to be proud of my heritage as well as keenly aware of racism and assimilated racism of my brothers and sisters. I have lived all over the country as well as traveled abroad. I have attended various colleges including Vassar like my mother. With the diversity of experience that I have been exposed to I must say, you my sister are not even aware of your own self-hatred. You press and straighten your hair, denying yourself an acceptance of who you really are on a topical level let alone internally. Do you really think that because you have been exposed to rich white kids you have managed to assimilate? Because you mingled in prep schools, assumed their ideology that you (or Condoleeza for that matter) are a white persons peer in their eyes? I myself have been exposed to the same and have also lived in Seattle but never adopted the mindset of those environments as it seems you have. You have adopted the goals of a culture that has no love for you. You come to the southern states and you will be rocked to the core to know at how obvious the injustices and prejudice that still thrive and plot against you and your people in such a indirect, extensive and cunning way here in this country. I am truly saddened that you have not been exposed to your heritage, truly. You don't even know who you are. This was the goal of slavery as well as it continues to be a facet of American society to mold it's negros, just like Condoleezza, Colin and the many that think assimilation is the answer to African Americans identity crisis or general issues. *shaking head* Actually your position is just an easy way out as far as I see it. It's definitely easier to assume the dominating ideology than to take hold of the truth and fight for it to be heard.

Posted by Ambra in Blogging | Link to This Entry | Comments { 58 }

 

In Defense of Tarjay

November 19, 2004

There has been much buzz over the last couple days in the blogosphere and beyond regarding Target Corporation's decision not to allow Salvation Army red kettles outside of their stores this holiday season. While part of me just thinks the bored part of America cannot rest unless they have something about which to cry bloody murder, I will give their concerns the benefit of the doubt. Christians especially have taken issue with the fact that Target may have a vendetta against historically Christian organizations. Since their decision to disallow the Salvation Army from raising money on their premises, there is move to boycott Target stores. And what on earth would the holiday season be without a boycott?

In the past, Target has made an exception to their "No solicitation policy" by allowing the Salvation Army money kettles to be placed outside their door. That was their decision. According to a statement released from Target, the reversal of this decision was due to the receipt of "an increasing number of solicitation inquiries from non-profit organizations each year, and determined that if we continue to allow the Salvation Army to solicit, then it opens the door to other groups that wish to solicit our guests."

On his radio show yesterday, popular Christian radio host Hugh Hewitt took his fellow conservative, writer James Lileks to task for claiming the removal of the Salvation Army was,

"A bad move for Target in PR terms, but they are not The Devil. I am not willing to disbelieve their rationale out of hand; I don’t think this was based in an antipathy to Christianity, as some have suggested. I think it’s the usual corporate mentality that seeks to avoid conflict, which is why this was announced many months ago. They hoped it would be forgotten by now. Oops."

Hewitt's contention is that indeed Target is specific in their approach to disavow all that is righteous and "good" about Christmas. He responded,

The season we are on the cusp of celebrating is uniquely a religious season. It has its origin in the journey of a poor and homeless family who were given shelter, and in the entry of grace and mercy into human history in the form of Christ. The Salvation Army is uniquely a mission to the homeless and the poor --the lost and the least. They are not just another charity, and it is not just any old time of year.

Further, Target is a company grown wealthy on the season we celebrate. For retailers, Christmas is the mother lode, the 25% in 30 days that makes all they year seem merry. How indifferent to the source of their wealth that Target would insult the spirit of Christmas.

Now I hate to nitpick but it's Friday I'm just gonna. Despite my disdain for the open rodeo they call Wal-Mart, I have been known to be tantalized by the cleanliness, organization, and price cuts found at Target (which we bourgeoisie refer to as "Tarjay"). I feel the need to address this rigmarole in points, so here goes:

1. It's not the fact that they're the Salvation Army that people are against, it's the DAGGONE BELLS! An Edgar Allan Poe poem, this scenario is not. Any business establishment worth their salt knows that "the moaning and the groaning of the bells" is ANNOYING and doesn't always make for the best customer experience.

2. Cut the talk about the Salvation Army being this fabulous "Christian Organization" and the anti-Christian nature of Target's move. Please. When was the last time you saw the Salvation Army doing anything that was so threateningly "Christian" that anyone had cause to hate them? More than anything, the SA is a social organization doing relief work and helping families in similar ways as other nonprofit organizations. This isn't a bad thing, but the whole "evangelical" aspect of the organization has some what dissipated if you ask me.

3. According to Hewitt, we're supposed to boycott Target because they're "insulting the spirit of Christmas" yet cashing in on the capitalism of it all. To Hewitt's points of Christmas having origin in the journey of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus, I hate to rain on this "oh Christmas is so hallowed and religious" parade, but it's not true. Christmas really has little to nothing to do with Christ. We've made it out to be some spiritual high, but we all know that Jesus wasn't even born on December 25th. And even down to the decorating of trees, the origin of Christmas wasn't Christian, it was pagan. Does Jesus Christ get honor and glory out of the day? Sure. Is it a great time for us to spend with family? You bet. Is the spirit of giving and reaching out to others important? Absolutely. But let's not do it under the banner of Christmas being some hallowed and sacred entity that it is not. It's manmade and we know it.

4. Target is a company that is entitled to do whatever they want. The fact that they made an exception to their policy for the "army" all these years is a testimony to the fact that they felt there was value in what the organization does. If it's time to move on from these efforts that's their choice. If the efforts of the "army" rises and falls on whether or not one corporation allows them to use their property for fundraising purposes, then so be it. Target never owed the SA anything from the get-go.

5. Move on.

So great. There are hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations all doing great work to reach out to those in need. We all should be doing our part in that respect. While there may be a loss of funds to the Salvation Army's efforts on a local level, they can't blame Target for that. Target was well within their rights to make the business decision to focus their community outreach in other ways. A Target spokesperson was quoted as saying,

"This decision does not diminish Target Corporation's commitment to its communities. Target donates more than $2 million per week and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours each year to the communities in which it does business."

Draw your own conclusions, but I'll still be exercising my right to "Target". When interviewed on the matter, shopper Barbara Whitmore, asked,

"What's Christmas without the bell-ringers?"

Quiet, that's what.

Posted by Ambra in Culture | Link to This Entry | Comments { 22 }

 

Friday's Missive: The Brilliant Factor

Far too often, we casually throw around the word "brilliant". I remarked last month that a few co-workers of mine had deemed Jon Stewart as a brilliant individual. I counter-offered a few people I thought better deserved such an adjective. Unfortunately, I suppose those types of things are completely subjective. Still, I'm curious to know a few things:

1. According to you, what determines brilliance?
   
2. Who are some of those among the living in our culture that fit that bill?

I need to think on this one for a minute so I'll update my list in a few.

Posted by Ambra in Culture | Link to This Entry | Comments { 20 }

 

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