Spiders

I don’t have a personal hatred of spiders. In most cases, I will catch a spider that is indoors and release it outdoors. Spiders eat bugs.

Up until about 3-4 years ago, I had never seen a black widow spider. I saw my first one in the driveway at my house. I flipped it over to look for the tell-tale red hourglass on the belly and then I killed it. Poison must die (as my friend Kelly put it).

Since then I have seen two more black widow spiders, within a month. They are scary spiders. And ugly. Maybe it is because I know they are poisonous and it would hurt like hell to be bitten by one. And maybe it is because of the thought (Erica and Heather, stop reading) of spiders have hundreds of babies at a time.

No deep thought in this, just sharing a story.

Things that are odd to me

This week, in the news, has made me have the thought of how odd or how surreal more than once or made me wonder what some people are thinking.

1. I have never understood mothers who choose their criminal boyfriends over their children. This is not a new thought, just a renewed one with that missing little girl who was taken by her mother and her sex offender boyfriend. When the little girl was found, the mom made some comment about how she loved the sex-offender boyfriend and knew she would do anything for him. I don’t understand mothers who will put their children in danger for some man and when it comes down to a decision, they choose the man. What is up with that. I think (soapbox time) if for any reason your children are removed from your custody and it is not found to be a huge mistake, you are immediately sterilized so you can’t have any more children to endanger.

2. The reaction over Michael Jackson’s death is strange to me. While I had this sense of someone I knew had died, another part of me said, “You didn’t know Michael Jackson.” I am a fan of his music. His life outside that is of no concern to me. Yes he was creepy. He had an unnatural fondness for little boys. But he was a celebrity that I didn’t know personally. I am not going to miss Michael because I didn’t know him. He was not a friend, he was not a loved one. He was some famous guy who the whole world watched enter into an ultimately fatal downward spiral. I feel bad for him and his family for that because no one should have to go through that period, much less in the public eye. I feel bad for his kids. Having lost my father when he was still relatively young (Ironically, he was 50 as well when he died), I don’t wish that on any child. But, the part about Michael I love, is still available– his music.
I do not understand those everyday fan people who have cried because of this. Maybe it is because I do not deal with death that way, especially for a complete stranger.

3. I think it is odd that more people are concerned with the fact that the South Carolina governor had an affair than the fact that he just up and disappeared. I personally do not care who any politician is sleeping with. If it were our governor, I would be more concerned that the leader of the state just up and left and didn’t tell anyone he was leaving. That throws state government in an impending state of chaos. Forget who he was sleeping with, someone needed to know he was out of pocket.

Stupid or Naive?

Last night on National Geographic, I saw a repeat of an episode of “Locked Up Abroad.” It was the first episode I had seen of the show and the one that turned me on to watching it.

This episode dealt with two young American women who ended up in prison in Peru because they were caught smuggling nearly 20 lbs of uncut cocaine out of Peru and into America. How they got to the point of trying to smuggle nearly 20 lbs of uncut cocaine out of Peru is what leads me to ask if they were really that stupid or that naive.

The two women are offered an all expense paid vacation to Peru by a man neither knew particularly well. In exchange for this luxury vacation, the two are asked to bring something back — the cocaine.
One of the women in the show says the amount that was found in their luggage by Peruvian law enforcement was significantly more than they were told they would be bringing back. They spent 3 years in a Peruvian prison.

Here is my question: At what point is it ever a good idea to agree to smuggle drugs? Sure Peru seems like an interesting country and I would like to visit sometime, but I will pay for it myself. If my best friend in the world offered me a free trip to some foreign country in exchange for smuggling something back be it drugs, jewels or midget sex slaves, I would not only say no, I would say hell no. I certainly wouldn’t agree to it with someone I didn’t know all that well.

And this whole series is filled with stories like this. Another one featured a 22-year-old Texan who was caught smuggling heroin out of Bangladesh. The amount she was found with made her eligible for death. During her proceedings, she was continually asked if she was 18 or if she was really 22. It was asked in such a way that it seemed the judge was giving her an out. If she were 18, she would be free to go. She refused to lie. She was sentenced to 30 years in jail. She narrowly escaped the death penalty. It wasn’t until her case caught the attention of then Rep. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., who met with the president of Bangladesh on her behalf and secured her release. She spent 4 years in that prison.

Again, the whole free trip to a foreign country to bring back something is stupid. The people who say yes to that have to be either stupid themselves or incredibly naive to think they can pull it off. Most can’t as the series shows. Then when you are caught to not take the one out presented to you. That is dumb. I am all for honesty and I try to be honest in everything I do, but if I am facing life in a foreign prison where I have no rights or the death penalty, I will cheat, steal and lie to save my ass. I am certainly not gonna worry about principles over something as simple as age. If saying I am 18 would get me out of trouble, then by God, I am 18.

I just have to wonder what goes through people’s minds when they make certain decisions. Nothing is worth breaking the law to a point where I could face death, life in prison etc. And definitely not for a complete stranger.

HRC and AFA

Quick background: The America Family Association has been doing a series of broadcasts on their network about the censorship of Christians who preach, protest, etc. against homosexuality and the virulent often violent reactions they receive from some homosexual groups. The AFA took these broadcasts and boiled them down to an hour-long documentary called “Silencing the Christians.” They bought some airtime on some Michigan television stations to show the video.

Bring in the Human Rights Campaign. The group that fights for gay rights, showcases companies that provide benefits to gay couples, etc. The HRC sent out a frantic action alert calling on all supporters of gay rights and the LGBT community to write, e-mail and call the Michigan TV stations to get the show pulled, and it worked. The stations gave in and denied the freedom of speech and freedom of the press to the AFA that they had bought!

Here is my problem. The HRC encouraged everyone and succeeded in doing to the AFA the exact thing the documentary accuses homosexuals of. Don’t get me wrong. I totally disagree with the AFA’s stance on the issue of gay rights. However, as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the AFA has the absolute right to those hold those beliefs and to express them in a peaceful, non-slanderous manner. That includes producing a video and buying airtime to have it shown.

No one has the right to do anything to take that away from the AFA. The HRC also has the right to its beliefs, but in expressing those beliefs, they cannot take action to deny those same rights they fight for and would scream if they were denied, to others. It is wrong to compel a group of citizens of work to deny anyone their Constitutional rights.

If this same situation would have happened in reverse (and it has) all hell would have broken loose from the HRC.

These are the exact types of things conservative groups look to when demonizing the gay rights movement and homosexuals. In fact, in the documentary “Silencing the Christians,” looks to a book written by two gay men that talks about how to bring the public consciousness to support gay rights. The show quite convincingly showed how the gay rights movement is doing exactly what the book said should be done.

I suggest you watch the movie: http://www.silencingchristians.com. It is enlighting.

And if anyone from the HRC is reading this, you are being exactly what the Christians say you are.

Hatchlings in my crack

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Another blow to private enterprise

eHarmony caved. That is the only word I can think of — caved. Instead of taking their chances with a lawsuit and standing up for their rights as a private business to offer services to whomever they choose, eHarmony’s leaders caved and have decided to allow homosexuals the opportunity to sign up for and find matches on their site. Don’t get me wrong. This is not an anti-gay post. Seeing as I am dating a woman that would be hypocritical of me. This is a post about the rights of businesses to serve or not serve whomever they choose.

So here is some background. eHarmony was the subject of a lawsuit brought on by a gay man who was upset that he could not go onto the site and find true love. Granted there are many other dating sites online such as Yahoo! Personals, Match.Com, Chemistry.com, not to mention the scores of specifically gay and lesbian dating sites. Instead of facing a jury, eHarmony settled and will be creating ‘Compatible Partners’ a companion site to eHarmony for gays and lesbians. I think it is wrong that we live in a culture that we can force private businesses to do what we want through litigation or the threat of litigation.

If I run a business and decide not to provide my services to someone based on anything then I should have that right not too. Sure it may hurt my business, but that is my decision. Are all the gay dating sites going to start letting straight people put up their profiles and look for love? I doubt it, and I doubt it is an issue. There are dating sites for people of color, for Christians etc. There is even one for so-called beautiful people. What now? A lawsuit from an ugly person wanting to be on the beautiful people site? A Satanist suing to be able to be on the Christian site? I don’t see this as discriminatory. I see this as private business being run as such and serving a select clientele. That is their right. That should not be taken away.

Businesses need to stand up for themselves. Government needs to quit getting involved unless the business is violating laws and people need to put on their big girl panties and deal with it. If a business doesn’t want to serve you because you are gay, black, Atheist, short, tall, male, female, etc., take your business elsewhere. As Americans we have the freedom to patronize or not patronize a business for whatever reason. Use the power of dollars not the power of the courts. That is capitalism.

And now for something completely different

Hurricanes.

It’s officially hurricane season. Before the season even began we have already seen Tropical Storm Alma in the eastern Pacific and Tropical Storm Arthur in the Gulf of Mexico (actually these two storms made landfall in almost the same place in Central America).

I am a self-proclaimed weather nerd. My focus had always been on tornadoes and the severe storms that product them. I never paid much attention to hurricanes. That was until the 2005 hurricane season. It was then I realized that hurricanes are infinitely more fascinating weather occurrences than tornadoes. Don’t get me wrong, I still wanna chase storms in Oklahoma and Kansas, but I love studying hurricanes.

Here are some interesting things I have learned in reading about hurricanes of the past.

In 1995, Hurricane Ismael — a category 1 eastern Pacific storm — made landfall off the southern coast of Guatemala. The storm continued its path inland north eventually making its way to Hobbs, New Mexico (where I live for those who don’t know). For continental United States, when the remnants of Ismael dumped more than 8 inches of rain on Hobbs, it ranked 10th for the wettest hurricanes.

And on a personal Hurricane related note, in 1952, Hurricane Fox brought death and destruction to Cuba, Southeast Florida and the Bahamas. It caused $81 billion (2008 USD) in damage and killed 41 people. It made landfall in Cuba as a category 4 hurricane. Had it been part of the modern hurricane naming lists (at the time hurricanes were still named using the Joint Army/Navy phonetic alphabet), it would have been retired. Fox was the second strongest hurricane to make landfall on Cuba at the time.

Fast forward 49 years to the 2001 hurricane season. Hurricane Michelle made landfall as a category 4 hurricane on Cuba replacing Fox as the second strongest hurricane to make landfall on Cuba. It was the strongest storm to hit Cuba since Hurricane Fox. While it only caused $2.44 billion (2008 USD) worth of damage across Cuba, Florida, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Honduras and Nicaragua and killed 17 people directly, Michelle was retired and will never be a Hurricane again.

Maybe in 2013, Hurricane Andrea will form and follow a similar path as Fox and Michelle and be retired. While I do not want people to die or lose property, that would be cool.

gasoline

I am a bad global citizen I guess, but in the face of gasoline prices in my town nearing $4 a gallon (and I freakin’ live where they make gasoline) and prices around the country and world spiking (except in the Middle East of course where they are enjoying gas prices at just at or less than $1 a gallon). I just can’t bring myself to care about moose in Alaska at ANWAR or ocean life in the Gulf of Mexico or any other environmental concerns in places where oil could be drilled for. Of course in the United States this would not help us since we haven’t built a new oil refinery since the 70s.

I also think if president Bush hadn’t completely alienated all the major oil producing countries in the world we might not be having such a problem (I understand supply and demand issues and how Katrina fucked things up and all that).

So here are my ideas. Some are a little radical, some are not quick solutions.

1. Environmentalist need to shut the hell up for a while. While I agree we need to work to find alternative fuels and what not, right now, we need more oil to refine and all that.  New drilling is not a quick fix.

2. We need to build more refineries here. Again not a quick fix.

3. We need to give financial incentives to OPEC to produce more oil. If we pulled out of Iraq because that is gonna go on forever costing us billions upon billions of dollars. That money could be shifted to subsidizing OPEC while we build more refineries and start more drilling.

4. This is my radical solution. Turn the Middle East into a parking lot and go in and drill. (Nothing against the people there)

The plight of private business in New Mexico

Apparently, in New Mexico, private business owners have no rights to serve whomever they choose and not to serve whomever they choose. Let me set up the story.

A photographer in Albuquerque was asked to shoot the wedding of a lesbian couple. (Gay marriage is not legal in New Mexico, but there is a statute that says a marriage performed in another state or country that is legal in that state will be recognized in New Mexico as valid) The photographer declined to take the job saying she only photographed traditional weddings and would not photograph a gay wedding.

The couple in questions reported the photographer to the New Mexico Human Rights Commission and the commission found that the photographer had discriminated against the couple and ordered her to pay nearly $7,000 in attorney’s fees.

Now, I am all for anti-discrimination laws to an extent. If someone refuses to hire a person or sell them a house. based on race, sexual orientation, etc. that is wrong and there should be protection against that. If a business refuses to serve someone for any reason, that is the business owner’s right. If a photographer doesn’t want to photograph a couple simply because they are gay, that is her right. And I guarantee if a gay photographer didn’t want to photograph straight couples, this situation would not occur. I also know that this is slightly contradictory with believing that a business cannot hire or not hire someone based on race, religion, age, but believing that that same business can choose who to serve based on the same criteria. However, if a business chooses not to serve me because I date women or because I am not a practicing christian, I have the same choice to take my business elsewhere. That is free enterprise at work.

I am all for equal rights, but I also believe a private business owner has the right to pick and choose the people that business serves.

Let this story be a lesson. If you are a private business owner and do not want to serve someone for any reason, just lie. Tell them you are busy, you don’t have the resources to accommodate them, etc. The truth will get you in trouble in New Mexico.

Just my thought for the day.

Here is a link to the story:

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/300004nm04-11-08.htm?splashtop1

Just the stuff running through my head

This is a totally random thing. No real point or deep message, just some stuff in my head.

Britney Spears: She is nuttier than a Planters factory. That being said, her family needs to step up and get her better and keep her away from the press so she can heal. They also need to learn from her and not let Jamie Lyn fall into the same thing. As for her children, it is sad that K-Fed is their best option as a parent, but he seems to have stepped up into the role.

Myspace: While I enjoy the site, I am getting tired of spam-like friend requests from some supposed person who wants me to visit some other site because Myspace will not let them post their naked photos. They do make me laugh because there are always some homely looking guys in their friend lists, and I picture that guy seeing the friend request and calling his homely friends saying: “Some hot chick wants to be my friend on Myspace.”

Gay celebrities coming out: Okay so a few weeks ago, Jodie Foster got an award and thanked her partner in a way that indicated this woman was her significant other and the world went crazy. There were gay and lesbian groups who applauded her for finally coming out (sort of). There were other gay and lesbian groups who were upset because she didn’t say she was gay outright. There were the religious freaks who always freak over that.  There were some actually surprised.  So for years groups have been calling for Jodie to come out so she can become some sort of lesbian posterchild.

My question is this — Who cares? Jodie Foster is an actress. Her private life is her own and it doesn’t make her any more or less of an actress. I applaud her for keeping it private for so long. And look at some of the celebrities who have come out and what a great name they are making for gays and lesbians. Rosie O’Donnell has turned into a complete and utter nutcase conspiracy theory believer. So now those looking for something wrong with gay people can look at her and say look homosexuals are crazy and unpatriotic and hate America.  George Michael has to come out because he got caught with his pants down in a bathroom. Boy George has had very public drug issues. Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer. Anne Heche went from gay, to intergalactic time traveler,  to straight. Maybe Jodie is a good thing. Shows she has a normal life. She works. She provides for her family. She raises her kids. She is in a stable, long term relationship. But why should anyone be required to come out by anyone other than themselves?

Politics: I am sick of the presidential campaign. I wish all the candidates would spontaneously combust with a message from God saying try again.

Okay. That is all for now.